Art that connects communities
Community Art Projects
The River is a Vessel
The River is a Vessel was a community art project that was part of Mary Mattingly’s River Lab which took place in NYC, July, 2022. River Lab consisted of a number of art projects which pertained to rivers. My project invited people to make small clay pinch pots and think of a word to inscribe in the pot regarding a river and its water. The project allowed participants to imagine how a river flows within a bed, often of clay. The vessels that people made, allowed them to experience acts of care as they created and held these small pots. That feeling of care for their tiny pots could be transferred to caring feelings for a river and water. Words of care were inscribed in the pots as well as embroidered onto small banners. The small pots and banners were displayed on the River Lab walls.
Walk of the Woods,July,2023
Artists Paula Jardine and Cathy Stubbington along with myself, as a facilitator, produced Walk of the Woods in Golden, BC, July 23-26, 2023. The focus of the project was to create tree costumes, inspired by the local trees of the area. The project started with a trail walk, lead by a local “tree” expert. Workshops of costume building followed culminating in two parades of trees. How does it feel to be a tree and how would a tree walk if such a thing was possible? My role as arts facilitator was to assist our participants to materialize their own ideas and to help in their costume construction. The process of costume building allowed our participants to think about the trees of our landscape and build on the relationship they have with the surrounding natural world.
Messages of Watercare, Aug, 2023
Messages of Watercare invited participants to examine samples of water which I had collected along the Columbia River from its source at Canal Flats to the town of Golden, BC. I had made a long map using watercolour, ink, and natural vegetation to stain the canvas. The water samples were placed along the map at the sites where the water had been collected by myself. Community members were invited to then think of what they would say to the river to show it that they cared about it. This was a challenging task for many who engaged with the project. It was easier to talk about the variation in the turbidity of the water samples as if this was a science experiement. But with time and support, participants would write a word r phrase which was then placed in the water sample. The water soluble ink dissolved into the water and over time the water changed. The messages of care were being accepted by the water. The project was completed by me returning all of the water back to the river- back to where each of the gifts of water had come from. This was a beautiful ephemeral project where community members could imagine the river, develop words of empathy and then see their words of water care dissolve into the water itself.
