Marilynn Flynn's painting "Cosmic Cauldron" (center) on board the Mir Space Station while in Earth Orbit.

"I want people to know that these are real places where it is not an impossible dream to live. I feel it is the natural and necessary course of human evolution to leave Earth and settle on other planets. In my artwork I convey these ideas by painting planetary landscapes from the viewpoint of a human explorer. I hope my paintings will not only depict the strange beauty of other worlds but will educate viewers and inspire future space travellers as well."   Marilynn Flynn 2008

Marilynn Flynn 'grew up with the space program'. She began her art career working in theater as a scenic artist and a puppeteer, while painting Space Art for her own enjoyment. However her interest in depicting the exploration of space eventually overwhelmed her other interests, and in 1978 she gave them up in order to become a full time professional space artist.
      She initially began showing her space art at Sci-Fi conventions, and her first published painting appeared in one of the early issues of The Planetary Society's "The Planetary Report". Since then her artwork has appeared in numerous books, magazines, TV programs, DVDs, science exhibits, art shows and websites. Her paintings have been commissioned by such prestigious organizations as the Earth & Space Foundation, The Planetary Society and NASA. She was also a founding member and appointed the first secretary of the International Association of Astronomical Artists. Her artwork is in the permanent collections of several museums, including the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as well as in private and corporate art collections. A participant of the NASA Fine Arts Program, she was a member of the art team for the tragic Challenger 51-L mission.
      Marilynn's space art paintings are a blend of science fact, art and intelligent imagination. They portray her desire to explore other planets and her belief that it is the natural course of human evolution to migrate from Earth and live on them. She is particularly interested in planetary geology, especially volcanic features, as well as depicting the human exploration of space.
         Although she hasn't made it into space herself yet, in 1995 her painting of "Cosmic Cauldron" was selected as one of twenty paintings that were launched to the Mir space station, where it orbited Earth for several months as part of "Ars Ad Astra", the first group art exhibit in space. Also two of Marilynn's sketches are on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan - engraved on a CD made by ESA which is attached to the Huygens lander (see left).
      She has a graduate diploma in theater design from the Banff Center, Canada, attended the Ontario College of Art, the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, and in 1986 obtained her private pilot's license. She has traveled extensively around the world and has lived in the U.S.A., the Seychelles, the U.A.E. and Canada.
       She is now living with her family in New Mexico near the future site of Spaceport America.