Communicating Environmental Issues: Art, Education, and the Environment
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Communicating Environmental Issues: Art, Education, and the Environment For our Environmental Studies Senior Seminar, our class was paired with Burlington City Arts, a public art gallery in Burlington, Vermont. Our role in working with BCA and their artists in residence was to aid BCA in their preparation for their upcoming Of Land and Local exhibition. The Of Land and Local exhibition is an event that explores environment and environmental issues through art and community engagement. In doing so, Of Land and Local is meant to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogues about the topics explored in the exhibition, set in the specific context of Vermont. This year’s Of Land and Local event is themed around water, and the particular political, social, and ethical issues concerning water that impact the Vermont landscape. The topic of water has particular salience as this year marks the fifth year since Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont. What is important to keep in mind, however, is that Of Land and Local is meant not only to foster discussions about environmental issues, but to serve as a means for people in Vermont to explore their own relationships with the environment (or in this case water), and engage in community-based discussions that delve into personal experiences, how and why meaning and value are constructed, and overall influence of water in people's’ lives. In consideration of these more grandiose implications of Of Land and Local, our class began with readings and discussions that focused on much larger questions concerning the intersection of art and the environment. Guiding many of our discussions were questions such as: how can art interact with the current environmental movement? What does the intersection of art and environment look like? Can art be used to communicate scientific information to the public? How can art be an actor of social change? And what is the role of place and space in the impact of art? At the start of the semester, we received a project statement that outlined four main tasks that we were to centralize our work for BCA around. First, we were to act as content specialists, synthesizing our own multidisciplinary expertise as well as outside research on relevant water issues in Vermont, in order to provide guiding themes for the exhibition and the artists. Secondly, we were to work with BCA to gather and synthesize personal narratives concerning water from people all around the state, thus providing BCA’s artists with a grounded, personalized means of interpreting the water issues addressed in our preliminary research. Third, we were to research and develop four public events connected to the themes of the exhibition to increase community engagement and encourage conversation about the topics highlighted by the exhibition. Finally, we were to assist individual artists by researching topics they were interested in to provide a context for the art they would then create. Unsurprisingly, our process did not flow smoothly from this initial project outline to the described finished products. Instead, over the next few weeks, our perceptions of our goals and of how we might contribute to Of Land and Local fluctuated with startling alacrity, with new aspects being brought in or being thrown out with every class meeting. Throughout this process, difficulties and frustrations often arose; different class members had different opinions concerning our role in the project and what we might produce through it, and all of us felt strongly a desire to make this project meaningful, both for ourselves and for our community partners. Aside from differences of opinion, a great deal of frustration also arose in trying to organize and collaborate with a group of nine people, which is never an easy task. In fact, in the process of determining what our final products would be for our community partners, we were forced to form and disband smaller groups several times, as our ideas continued to change. Finally, after weeks of discussion both in class and with Burlington City Arts, we settled on four main tasks or products which we then pursued and were able to provide to our community partners and the artists. First of all, we stayed true to the original project statement in that we identified and researched a wide range of water issues in Vermont, and synthesized that research into a document which we gave to dj, Ashley, and the artists to help set the context for Of Land and Local and possibly influence the artists’ work. An important part of this as well was locating those issues we deemed of consequence in Vermont in a global context, such that the more far-reaching relevance of the themes contained in the exhibition could be fully realized. In addition to this, we researched a number of local Vermont artists who explore water in their work, and provided a list of artists, their contact information, and relevant past work to Ashley such that she might find more artists to pull into the Of Land and Local event. We also followed the general goal of the project statement by conceptualizing four events meant to occur in concert with Of Land and Local in the fall. The first event will be a panel about the intersection of water and natural disasters in Vermont and beyond, featuring a variety of voices and perspectives, intended to educate and engage the local community. There will be a children’s event, intended to engage a younger audience and generate interest in environmental issues. In an effort to contribute to the well-being of the local environment, there will be a river cleanup day on the Winooski River. Lastly, we conceptualized and saw to fruition a Fireside Chat, which was a night of meaningful conversations on North Beach in Burlington about many of the themes from the course including the importance of water in Vermont and the intersection of art in the environment. Because of the success of this event, Burlington City Arts is planning on re-doing the event in the fall. Another vital part of our work with BCA was collaborating with four local artists involved with Of Land and Local. This was a unique and exciting opportunity, as we were able to engage with the artists at a very early stage in their work, and thus were able to watch their creative processes unfold. Most of our collaboration with the artists took the form of engaged discussions in which different ideas were thrown back and forth and explored. With one artist in particular, Cami Davis, we were able to take on an even more involved role, creating a sound piece made up of different water sounds that will be incorporated into her final work for the exhibition. The last component of our involvement with BCA, and perhaps the one that generated the most excitement within our class, was the production of a collaborative zine, a short DIY publication. We felt that in spirit of this entire class and everything we had discussed, it was fitting to have our own artistic and creative contribution to Of Land and Local. The zine consists of drawings, paintings, photography, poetry, and non-fiction prose from different members of the class - all of which is consistent with the theme of water and Vermont. Creating pieces for the zine allowed us to explore not only the specific water topics that were the context of Of Land and Local, but also to explore, on a personal level, our own relationships to water through art, and to fully consider the questions that shaped our discussions at the outset of the class. To disseminate the zine amongst the public, a number of copies will be available at the Of Land and Local event. On top of that, we placed a number of copies in books in Armstrong Library, and spray-painted their call numbers around campus with a special paint that only is discernable when the pavement is wet. We are extremely pleased to have been the first iteration of a Middlebury Environmental Studies Senior Seminar with an art focus. While it was at first challenging to find a specific direction for the project, we were able to exploit the vast accessibility of art, and the fact that everyone can relate to it in his or her own way, to make this project a success. When Of Land and Local goes up in the fall, we hope that the true value of our partnership with BCA, and the value of community engagement in general, will shine through. With its art focus, this project allowed us all to engage with our different disciplines towards a common (though sometimes uncertain) goal, working together to produce something that we feel will be extremely valuable not only for BCA and Of Land and Local, but also for us all personally as we conclude our educations here at Middlebury, and come to consider how we construct value and how we interact with our world. Report on Relevant Water Topics in Vermont for Of Land and Local April 2016 Compiled by the Students of Middlebury College ENVS 0401 Spring 2016 2 REPORT ON RELEVANT WATER TOPICS IN VERMONT Table of Contents Water Quality ......................................................................................................................................... 3 I. Common Contaminants ............................................................................................................................... 3 Endocrine Disrupters ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Most Common Water Pollutants in Vermont .........................................................................................................