Writer and associate professor of English, University of Southern California. Johnson’s The Story of Biddy Mason (2016) retraces the parallel but contrasting Los Angeles of Henry Huntington and African-American entrepreneur Biddy Mason. Her work demonstrates a long-standing interest in how class, good fortune, and race influence ideas about, and proximity to, utopia.

Caption: Dana Johnson at The Huntington. Photo by Kate Lain.

Interdisciplinary artist. Katchadourian’s work, which includes video, performance, sound, sculpture, photography, and public projects, often explores the re-framing or reorganizing of collections. She intends to focus on the theme of monsters in maps and rare books within The Huntington’s archive.

Caption: Nina Katchadourian at The Huntington. Photo by Kate Lain.

Poet Laureate for the City of Los Angeles; National Book Award winner. Coste Lewis created new work for Clockshop’s “Radio Imagination project” (2016), which drew upon the papers of Octavia E. Butler at The Huntington. For the 2019 iteration of the /five initiative, she is interested in investigating the writings and prints of American naturalist John James Audubon (1785-1851), a fabled perfectionist

Caption: Robin Coste Lewis at The Huntington. Photo courtesy of Amanda Schwengel and Hampshire College.

Interdisciplinary artist. Muñoz’s work in film, video, and performance focuses on ideas of speculative futures and utopias and is often produced in her homeland of Puerto Rico. Muñoz will work with the botanical collections, specifically looking at the process of cryopreservation of plants within the collections.

Caption: Beatriz Santiago Muñoz at The Huntington. Photo by Kate Lain.

Artist, designer, writer, and educator. Woo specializes in interpretive work that helps people reorient themselves to place. He will be working with the archive of scholar Robert V. Hine (1921-2015), who conducted oral histories in several of California’s utopian communities.

Caption: Rosten Woo at The Huntington. Photo by Kate Lain.