Journal
Writing from the art.
We Can All Use a Little Hope
It was an honor to unveil a new Climate Art and Action Project at the Festival of the Steh-Chass's youth camp yesterday. I worked with over 30 youth, discussing climate change, sea level rise, and the impacts they are already witnessing. And, of course, solutions. The smoke from western forest fires had only recently cleared and was fresh in their minds. It was easy to see that for many of them, climate change was all too real, and all too daunting. Yet they responded not just with worries and anxiety, which I imagine most of us have in the face of this looming threat, but with Hope.
One Water Three Years Later
What comes to mind when you think of a wastewater treatment plant? I would bet it’s not a LEED Platinum rated building housing a science center and award-winning education programs. The LOTT Clean Water Alliance in downtown Olympia is pretty unique, and is recognized internationally as a utility of the future. This means we pioneer innovative technologies and cutting-edge practices, with a focus on resource recovery, efficiency, sustainability, and community engagement.
Design Collaboration: Less Waste, More Food
At the beginning of March, I kicked off the Less Waste, More Food Art in Action Project with 4 design workshops, involving 100 students, at Salish Middle School and North Thurston High School. In these workshops, I presented about the problems of wasting food. In the US we waste 40% of the food we grow! This wasted food has huge social and environmental impacts, including:
Welcome to the Unknown: Design Collaboration
It is exciting, and a little scary, to embark on this collaborative art-venture with the Thurston County Food Bank. There are so many unknowns. I know that it will result in a permanent exterior art installation and involve over 1,000 people along the way.
I Am Thrilled to Share This News!
I am thrilled to share this news with you: I was chosen to lead a groundbreaking project for the Thurston County Food Bank, as their Artist in Residence! This would not have been possible without the support of so many amazing people.
Thanks to a waste prevention grant from the Department of Ecology, we are embarking on a collaborative, multi-faceted Art and Action project. The focus of the project is:
Adventures in Ferrocement, Featuring the Pollinator Project
One of the wonderful aspects of the Pollinator Project was learning a new art medium, ferrocement. Ferrocement is essentially concrete mortar over a metal armature. Using a metal armature and mesh makes the concrete much stronger, allowing shapes and forms that would be impossible with concrete alone.
The Pollinator Extravaganza!
Over the summer, we celebrated the unveiling of an art sculpture and pollinator garden. At the event, there were local beekeepers, a live observation hive, honey vendors, education stations, a pollinator photographer, musicians and even a juggler! It was so much fun that we are thinking of making it an annual day-long education and family fun event.
One Water: The Infinite Journey
This spring, I partnered with LOTT Clean Water Alliance to create an engaging and educational art piece about water for the WET Science Center. I teamed up with LOTT and more than 1,200 Thurston County students and adults to create the new piece titled “One Water – The Infinite Journey” that debuted as part of Spring Arts Walk on April 22 at LOTT’s WET Science Center. The result of this project is not just an art installation; it is a story of water.