A Curios Donation To The Nomadic Fungi Institute

In 1953 Sam Gray, a hobo known by the name of Dr. Graybones left his knapsack in the care of Rev. P. Fowler with instructions to keep it safe. Sam was never seen or heard from again...

...Sixty years later as the old church was being dismantled Sam's knapsack was donated to the Nomadic Fungi Institute.

Among the contents of the knapsack is Sam's journal. It is stuffed with his drawings of peculiar toadstools. These are the earliest known records of Nomadic Fungi yet found, pushing the date back to 1944.

The complete biography of Sam Gray - Dr Graybones And His Curious Knapsack is published by the Nomadic Fungi Institute. The first edition is available through the White Rock Zine Machine.

Subscribe to the World Of Nomadic Fungi for more information.

A Curious Knapsack Reveals It's Secrets

The Nomadic Fungi Institute has received a curious knapsack whose contents has pushed the earliest documented sighting of a Nomadic Fungus back to 1944.

This knapsack belonged to Dr. Graybones, a hobo who traveled throughout the southern states from 1943 to 1953.

Inside are the basic items that make life livable along the railroad tracks; a knife, spoon, matches, wool gloves and a journal where Dr. Graybones penned down his observations, including several encounters with Giant Toadstools.

The Nomadic Fungi Institute is in the process of archiving this canvas treasure trove and will soon publish a small catalogue - Dr Graybones And His Curious Knapsack. The first edition will be available through the White Rock Zine Machine and the Deep Vellum bookstore.

Subscribe to the World Of Nomadic Fungi for more information.

NFI Ink Drawings Part of The Chaos At RO2 Art

NFI Desk Top at lunch July 13th 2016

RO2 Art is having their annual Chaos show where they cover the gallery walls from top to bottom with artwork from a bus load of artists.

NFI Storage Facility 

The Nomadic Fungi Institute has submitted four pen and ink drawings by our archivist.

NFI Desk Top at lunch July 20, 2016

Somehow he found time to do a these drawings of the NFI office. He says he does these 5x7" drawings during his lunch and not while on the clock.

NFI Flat Files

The Chaos show opens July 30th and runs through Sept 4th.

Spore Sprouting Test Exhibition Closes

With the Spore Sprouting Test exhibition at RO2 Art coming to a close the staff at the Nomadic Fungi Institute are celebrating with double shot mocha lattes.

The overwhelming public support of this exhibit, the rousing opening night turnout, the steady stream of people dropping by the gallery throughout the month, PLUS the wonderful reviews by Modern Dallas and Dallas Arts Revue have left all of us a bit light headed.

This will keep the us motivated as we dive back into research, digging through musty file cabinets and conduct more lab tests involving smelly Nomadic Fungus cocktails.

Keep looking under the hood!

Spore Sprouting Test Reviewed on Dallas Arts Revue

Another review of the Spore Sprouting Test at Ro2 Art, this time by J R Compton at Dallas Arts Revue.   (Click on text/image to enlarge)

Spore Sprouting Test Reviewed On ModernDallas.net

The Spore Sprouting Test exhibition at RO2 Art has been reviewed by Todd Camplin on ModernDallas.net. The staff at NFI are thrilled, especially our archivist Brad Ford Smith who got his name in BIG type. (click in the text to enlarge)

Germination And Sprouting Nomadic Fungus

The Nomadic Fungi Institute has successfully cultivated Nomadic Fungus spores in a controlled laboratory setting.

After two years of research and laboratory testing, NFI is happy to release these photographs from the Nomadic Fungi Spore Sprouting Test.

The multi step process of sprouting the Nomadic Fungus spores begins with the creation of a cocktail that the spores can thrive in.  Next, pour that funky mix into a jar and add a diecast car to act as a host for the fungus to feed upon.















It was a bit of a dangerous decision whether to engage in these tests. The risks involved in handling a voracious material which if successfully germinated posed an added risk of containment breach.

After weighing all the options and conducting in depth research on containment and sterilization, NFI decided to push ahead with the tests. The results as you can see from these photographs has been amazing.














These bonsai sized Nomadic Fungi Lab Samples will be essential in our research on how this parasitic fungus can rapidly biodegrade materials such as petroleum, rubber and plastic.


The results of the Spore Sprouting Test are on display at RO2 Art June 25th - July 23rd 2016.

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