Ecological Consciousness: Artist as Instigator

Artists are the voice of the community. Often they are one of the first to voice social concerns and the most effective at garnering grassroots support for important issues. Not surprisingly, as communities’ concerns about persistent environmental issues have escalated, artists have been uniquely positioned to actively respond, collaborating with engineers, designers, landscape architects, ecologists, historians and other professionals to bridge the gap between science, art and activism. Wave Hill stands at the center of this shift, providing the impetus for Wave Hill’s summer exhibition that features ecological projects initiated by artists, collectives, and organizations.

We turned Glyndor Gallery into an information exchange hub to learn about these projects that explore persistent environmental problems in New York City. Bioremediation, water quality, food justice, soil carbon content and strategies for increasing resiliency are among the topics that are being tackled.

Sixteen projects were presented through photographs, videos, artifacts and installation; they represent collaborations and partnerships with a wide range of organizations:

Carbon Sponge by Brooke Singer

Daylighting Tibbetts Brook Projects organized by City As Living Laboratory (CALL) with SLO Architecture, and Bob Braine

Levee Proposal for Louis Valentino Park, Red Hook, Brooklyn by Jean Shin

(NERTM) New Earth Resiliency Training Module by Tattfoo Tan

Newtown Creek Sampling by Greg Lindquist with Willis Elkins/Newtown Creek Alliance

NYC Waterways, Site of Activity, Site of Action by Eve Mosher and Clarinda Mac Low

NYC Urban Field Station STEW-MAP

OnBehalfof.Life by Environmental Performance Agency (EPA)

Outer Seed Shadow Projects for Marble Hill Houses and Dyckman Houses organized by Juanli Carrión

Swale by Mary Mattingly

The Fairy Ring: Mycoremediation Mother Patch, Newtown Creek by Jan Mun

THE POINT’s South Bronx Resiliency Arts Fellowship Projects by artists Blanka Amezkua, Brandon Ballengée, Lynn Cazabon and Alicia Grullon

WATERWASH Bronx River by Lillian Ball

Thank you to all the artists and collaborating organizations who are working diligently to raise ecological awareness and improve the environment in New York City.

Ecological Consciousness: Artist as Instigator is organized by Wave Hill’s curatorial team, Jennifer McGregor and Eileen Jeng Lynch.