This site is constantly under construction. Please be patient with me as I learn HTML. Right now it may seem simplistic or dull, but I'm working on shaping it up. It may take some time and be a bumpy journey. In the meantime, if you are looking for a work of mine that you cannot find linked here please shoot me an email at townsound[at]proton.me and I can give you a hand. Thank you for your patience!
Hey there, I'm Marley "Mar" Townsend, a museums and cultural heritage graduate student/worker and writer from San Francisco, California.
Formerly a professional foley artist and sound designer, I hold a degree in Film/Video production from California Institute of the Arts (BFA 2020), where I was a Provost's Merit Scholar. My sound work for animation and live-action has been screened and awarded at film festivals around the world. Games I've worked on have gone on to guest at both virtual and in-person showcases, and my work in science research-based art has been recognized at an international level. My work across media is driven by a passion for experimentalism, social dynamics, emotion, history, and the archive, and has been described as subtle, strange, and thoughtful. Though I no longer work professionally in the film/sound and game world, I continue my passion for interactive art through my work in the cultural heritage and museum world.
I am currently an M.A. Candidate at San Francisco State University in the Museum Studies graduate program ('26). As a collections and interpretation specialist, my focus is on object care and conservation, 3D scanning and photogrammetry, and the study of material culture within a museum context. I have experience working in history, science, and anthropology/archaeology museum contexts. With over 5 years of experience in museum visitor experience and a prestigious former career in interactive art, I bring a unique perspective to the "back-of-house" world of collections; my knowledge of 3D programs, programming/game dev, and museum studies has inspired me to pursue work in the digital cultural heritage field. I am completing my thesis and am in the process of applying to PhD programs in Culture Heritage Studies--my proposed dissertation research topic and current Master's thesis project investigates methods of using photogrammetry and open source game development software to study, share, conserve, and interpret material culture. I also examine the legal implications, ethical problems, and theoretical gaps of knowledge in this emerging field of digital cultural heritage preservation and how to ensure this research centers a de-colonial and anti-imperial perspective.
Last and hopefully not least, I am also a literary fiction writer! Though this remains a hobby for now, I have a good track record of publication, a hefty handful of awards, and two Pushcart nominations under my belt. While my writing within the academia sphere takes up a lot of my word processor screen time, writing short stories has been a lifelong passion and love for me. You can find my stories many places, but for updates on where I'm being published and by whom, check back here in my (cleverly named) "RECENT UPDATES" section below. True Marleyheads may also remember my stint as a bookstore manager, which helped further my love of big books that make me ponder. Currently, I'm finishing a compiled collection of my published pieces; who knows, maybe one day you'll be able to check that out from your nearest public library branch. I'll let you know if I'm successful at manifesting such a lofty dream. For now, don't turn that dial.
Please feel free to poke around any of my socials and old sites; keep in mind, however, that I do not keep these updated regularly. I'm not a fan of social media but would be happy to chat over email if you'd like to see my work: write me at townsound[at]proton.me.
*Sept. 2025* Work my classmates and I did in MS 710 Museum Education and Outreach was presented by our professor Dr. Lisette Jiménez and Cal Poly professor Dr. Elizabeth Minor at the Badé Museum's Disability Lecture Series. The project was an in-exhibit digital interactive for use in The Global Museum's Ancient Egypt Learning Alcove. It included photogrammetric models of objects in the museum's Ancient Egyptian Collection and was developed in Godot 4. The title of the lecture was Accessing Ancient Egypt: Inclusive Strategies for Museum Learning with Collections and Digital Tools. It was livestreamed on UC Berkeley's Archaeological Research Facility YouTube channel.
*June 2025* I was selected as the Museum Program Intern for the National Park Service and Golden Gate National Park Conservancy's Dr. Nina S. Roberts Academic Internship Program (summer 2025 cohort). I served in the Park Archives and Records Center for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area here in my hometown of San Francisco.
*June 2025*: I was nominated for a second Pushcart Prize by the Ana Magazine for my short fiction piece "California Wormhole".
*Nov. 21, 2023*: My short fiction piece "Winter in August" was nominated for the Pushcart Prize by the Ana, a wonderful literary magazine. You can read it and other beautiful pieces by Bay Area writers here.
*Feb. 2023*: The animated film "Birdsong", directed by Michelle Cheng, for which I contributed sound design and foley, was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Student Film.
This website is built from and this artist lives on the unceded ancestral land of the Ramaytush Ohlone people, who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay Peninsula. I encourage you to visit Sogorea Te' Land Trust to learn more about how to support land back efforts and Indigenous rights.
Statement on Artifical Intelligence: I do not use nor will I ever use artificial intelligence to do anything. This includes all my artwork past and present, all academic research, all writing, all coding, and all the stuff I do for fun. I do not condone the use of AI, and encourage you to investigate the huge environmental toll it takes worldwide. I understand that this is my opinion, and that you may not agree with me. However, as a San Franciscan I cannot in good conscience support major tech initiatives that harm not only global communities but those in my own backyard as income inequality, environmental racism, systemic homelessness, and more are driven by gentrification and democratic backsliding in the name of financial gain. I humbly request that you do not use AI to engage with my work in any way, including to summarize, to understand, or to converse with. Please instead email me; we can work something out. Thank you for understanding.