Sam Shoemaker crossing the Catalina Channel in his mushroom boat on August 5, 2025. Photo by Jordan Freeman. Courtesy Fulcrum Arts.
Fulcrum Arts launches its new Pasadena headquarters with “Sam Shoemaker: Mushroom Boat,” an exhibition centered on the artist’s August 5 crossing of the Catalina Channel from Two Harbors to Cabrillo Beach in a kayak made of mushroom mycelium.
The show presents the mushroom boat alongside large-scale projections, time-lapse videos, and soundscapes that immerse visitors in the 26-nautical-mile open-ocean journey through turbulent water, wildlife encounters, a commercial shipping lane, and persistent headwind.
“Shoemaker’s work explores the potential of sustainable materials in unprecedented ways,” said Patrick J. Reed, curator at Fulcrum Arts. “His crossing of the Catalina Channel in a boat made of mushroom mycelium prompts us to recognize that innovative creative practices can guide our efforts toward ecologically responsible modes of inventing, exploring, and living our lives.”
Alongside the installation, Shoemaker is releasing an open-source compendium detailing his mycological research and methodologies— a hard copy will be exhibited and a digital version will be freely accessible.
The document encourages others to use fungi— an organic, versatile, and renewable resource— for responsible technical and creative innovations.
Shoemaker’s work has previously been shown at Craft Contemporary and the California African American Museum and has been featured in Los Angeles Times and W Magazine.
*Sam Shoemaker: Mushroom Boat will run Friday, Oct. 10, from 6-10 p.m. Fulcrum Arts, 544 N. Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 793-8171 or visit https://www.fulcrumarts.org/program/sam-shoemaker-mushroom-boat/.
