Public art and the Street Art Fair

A few weeks ago I wrote about doing a workshop at the Street Art Fair in July. The plans for that have changed considerably and grown into something far more exciting. The Street Art Fair, working with the Washtenaw Land Trust, has commissioned me to do a piece of public art about the ecology of Washtenaw County. This piece will start with satellite imaging and maps and include photos, drawings and stories contributed by the public. It's going to be a big piece - 4 panels each just shy of 4 feet on a side. People will have opportunities to send in their contributions in advance and to help assemble the piece at the Townie Street Party on Monday July 14th. more details to come on the specifics.

I'm very excited about this project! I love the idea of including people's memories and images in a way to document the ecology of our area. Special thanks to Shary Brown for coming up with the project and doing a lot of legwork to get it started along with Aaron Gold and Suzie Heiney.

From Rust Belt to Artist Belt

Last week I attended the conference named in this post's title. It was held in Cleveland, a city that's done a remarkable job of reinventing itself. It was a fabulous, inspiring, brain-filling experience. I went with a group of thirteen arts professionals sent by the Arts Alliance as part of the alliance's ongoing efforts to improve the visibility and economic strength of the arts here in Washtenaw County. I think there will be a lot of significant things coming out of both the conference and the larger effort.

Workshop at Ann Arbor Art Fair

Updated - this will actually be a different event at the Townie Street Party on Monday July 14th - watch this space for details about an exciting project!

I'm giving a free collage workshop at the Street Art Fair on Wednesday July 16th from 3-5pm. The workshop will be environmentally themed using satellite photos and recycled materials. If you're in town come and play! more details when the date is closer.

The Place Where You Go to Listen

Composer John Luther Adams has made an installation at the Museum of the North in Fairbanks Alaska that takes weather, seismic and other data and produces a music/light piece that seems truly remarkable. Makes me want to head to Fairbanks right now! I'm fascinated by the way he has incorporated scientific data as the source for music. New Yorker article here. Brief Youtube of the installation here. h/t metafilter

Tour of the Cryosphere

This 7 minute video uses computer modeling and satellite imaging to look at changes in the coldest regions of the earth due to global warming. It's succinct and neutral in tone but the implications are very frightening. The data wasn't new to me but it's very well assembled.

Artropolis and other stuff

This is a new piece. "Greenland - ice and water"
It's 18" x 24" and is encaustic and digital on panel. ©2008

I spent the weekend in Chicago at Artropolis.
I saw a lot of work I liked and a lot that seemed dull. Was
grabbed by work at Sundaram Tagore, especially Sohan Qadri's beautiful
dyed paper pieces.

I was surprised by how little encaustic there was at either Art Chicago
or the Next show. I did enjoy Martin Kline's large scale encaustic at
Jason McCoy.

I also visited Woman Made Gallery. I am jurying a show there with Lynda
Cole. Here's the call for entry for One Planet, One Experiment. I will be
having a solo show there this fall as well.

more new work

"melt zone - line of demarkation"encaustic, digital imaging and mixed
media on panel, 24" x 24" ©2008

"bleeding fjord", encaustic, digital imaging and mixed
media on panel, 18" x 24" ©2008

Both of these pieces started with satellite images of coastal
Greenland where glacial melt has been accelerating at a frightful
rate over the last few years. "Melt zone" incorporates false color
imaging of areas melting faster and other data.

new piece

"fjord & snow" - this is a new piece based on satellite images of snowmelt in Greenland. It is 12" x 12" and is encaustic and digital.

Exhibition extended

My exhibition at the Yourist Studio Gallery has been extended through the month of April.

More on workshop

Check here for more details on the workshop I'm teaching in June.

Encaustic workshop

I'm teaching an encaustic workshop at Yourist Studio Gallery this summer:

Introduction to Encaustic Painting

Saturday, June 28/ Sunday, June 29, 10am-4pm
Coffee and bagels at 9:30 - Potluck lunch at 12.

The workshop will be two days long - those new to encaustic can take both
days and people with some experience may prefer to just take the second day.
More details on the Yourist site soon.

Global Mourning

I read a column in the January issue of Wired by Clive Thompson about the psychological effects of global warming. An Australian philosopher named Glenn Albrecht has coined a new word, solastalgia, to describe the mourning for a lost environment. He says it's a "form of homesickness one gets when one is still at 'home.'" This really resonates with me since it's a huge part of what informs my current series of shrines and altars.

show of my work

There's a show of my work is at Yourist Studio Gallery at 1133 Broadway in Ann Arbor through March.

This is "cloud/sky/channel". It's one of the pieces in the exhibition. It's 18" x 24" and is encaustic and mixed media on panel.