2023 2nd Annual Fungus Festival T-Shirt (available in white or blue)

These T-shirts subsidize the festival and allow us to keep it free for all.

Phyllis Ma is a New York-based artist specializing in still life photography, some of which features fungi. Recently, she’s been interested in archival research and writing on the history of the New York Mycological Society and the role of women in the popularization of amateur mycology. Follow her on Instagram!

The design of the 2023 Fungus Festival T-shirt combines several historical elements from New York mycological history. The back graphic features a 1983 quote from the co-founder of the New York Mycological Society, John Cage, juxtaposed on a playful puffball scene from the 1895 book, Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms by W. Hamilton Gibson. The front T-shirt graphic combines scientific drawings by Hannah C. Anderson and J. A. Anderson from The Mushroom Book (1901) by Nina L. Marshall—a notable example of women’s participation in early amateur mycology. Both publications were popular mushroom guides at the turn of the 20th century, and were likely used by members of the first New York Mycological Club.