Members of the inaugural cohort are currently presenting on their projects at an exhibition at the Arbor Institute (through Dec. 12, 2021) and at workshops at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. Read more about cohort projects below. We give thanks to our "science" advisors for the inaugural cohort: Marda Kirn of EcoArts Connections, and CU Boulder Researchers, Atreyee Bhattacharya, Larisza Krista, Erin Leckey, Jorge Perez-Gallego, and Taneil Uttal.

Art + Science + Action Workshops

2021 Cohort Member Projects

Waste in Space: A human-centered approach to exploring sustainable practices in near-Earth space

Valerie Bernstein, CU Boulder Aerospace Engineering
Vishal Ray, CU Boulder Aerospace Engineering
Bryan Goldfeder, BGOLD Glass 

Our group is fostering partnerships with local artists, community leaders, and science advisors to explore human-centered narratives and pathways to action regarding the space junk problem. Our work will culminate in educational glass-making workshops to engage rural and urban residents in the space junk problem as well as a visual art exhibit at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA). The glass-making workshops will have an interactive presentation addressing the issue of space debris from diverse perspectives. Participants in glass-making workshops will learn about space junk while working with the medium of recycled glass as a way to draw connections between the trash problem we’ve created both on Earth and in space. The participants will also consider the parallels between our production of and relationship with trash on Earth and in space.

Louisville Community Rainworks

Erin Robertson, BoCo Wild Writers

How can we create a warmer community and a cooler world?
Louisville community groups are using the Rainworks method to stencil hidden messages around sustainability and inclusion on concrete in public spaces using a hydrophobic spray that is invisible when dry.  When it rains or snows, the surrounding concrete darkens, and our message from the rain magically appears. Rainworks remind us that everything is connected, that our earthly actions have impacts that extend into the atmosphere, and that the rain loves all of us and wants us to treat the earth and each other kindly. lovetherain.org

 

Connect for Action Longmont: St Vrain Greenway Water Dances

Celeste Moreno, MS, Creative Technology and Design
Maren Waldman, MFA, Maren Waldman Dance and Healing Arts

Connect for Action Longmont: St Vrain Greenway Water Dances is a multi-phase project that uses dance, visual art, music, history, storytelling and science to bring communities together around water. A series of small group experiences at sites along the St Vrain engage community members, water decision makers, environmental organizations, community leaders, and municipal leaders in intimate conversation about the meaning and role of water in Longmont. Action steps are identified along the way to raise awareness and action in the community regarding water issues such as scarcity, adaptation, and resilience. A large performance event will be created from the small group experiences to rally the community in action and togetherness.

Boulder Heritage Apple Tree Project

David Dadone, Executive Director Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA)
Bryan Goldfeder, BGOLD Glass

The Boulder Heritage Apple Tree Project is exploring connections between community and apples in Boulder. The Boulder Apple Tree Project (BATP), has been mapping the abundant heritage varieties in the area and telling the connected stories of fruit and people. The Jewish Community Center (JCC) youth group, which is led by one of the JCC's farmers, explores Jewish practice through the land. We will be coming together in October at BGOLD glass to learn about the Boulder apple projects, understand what grafting is and how artist Sam Van Eken is creating around this, and have a cider making workshop with apples and community members from Boulder's Mapleton trailer park. The event and outreach will dig into local community, art, science, history, and social connections through preserving the harvest.    

 

Sculptural Interventions to Biodiversity Decline

Belgin Yucelen
 
This project will install sculptural artworks along a habitat corridor; Corredor de las Plantas being built as part of a program run by the city of Boulder to support pollinators and other wildlife to reverse biodiversity decline. The sculptures will draw people and demonstrate the importance of connection – the connection of community members to create the biodiversity corridor, the connection of plants, insects, birds and other life within each patch of habitat, as well as the connection between pollinator garden patches to create the corridor. Individual artworks will also reflect the cultural history of each site. The sculptures will include areas filled with soil to engage interest and encourage participation where community members will be able to create their own small pollinator gardens within the sculpture and will be encouraged to incorporate habitat and corridors into their own neighborhoods. Through daily encounters with these interruptions, biodiversity initiatives will be made visible and meaningful.

Science Shorts: air fire water earth

Heather Beasley, Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado, Associate Artistic Director
Helena Pliszka, University of Colorado Boulder, Education Coordinator

Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado (BETC) will pair three playwrights (Vanessa Bowie, Fly Jamerson, Colette Mazunik) with science researchers/teams, to create a production of short plays and brief science talks penned by the researchers whose science inspired the plays. BETC will then share the production with high schools around Colorado, with an accompanying educational workshop designed with input from Colorado high school science and theatre teachers and students. The production’s short plays will address environmental issues including air quality, near-earth space debris; and wildfire recovery and resilience strategies.

 

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