Madeline Krasno
CAF awarded a grant to Madeline Krasno for her project, “Portraits from the Lab.”
“Portraits from the Lab” is an art and testimony project that makes visible the rarely acknowledged psychological toll of working with animals in research laboratories. The project invites current and former lab workers—technicians, veterinarians, caregivers, students, and researchers—to write anonymized reflections about an animal they worked with, exploring not only the relationship formed, but the grief, guilt, moral injury, and psychological harm they experienced as a result.
These written pieces are then shared with professional artists, who create visual portraits integrating both the individual animal and the worker’s internal emotional experience. The resulting works hold two forms of harm simultaneously: the animal as subject, and the human as someone carrying the weight of what was done. The art and testimonies will be hosted in an online exhibition hosted on Justify‘s website.
This grant is sponsored by the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS).
Madeline Krasno is the Executive Director of Justify, which was created by people who have worked in animal research to help others share their experiences safely, connect with those who understand, and find language for what they’re going through. She holds a Master’s degree in Humane Education from Valparaiso University.
