EAIR Update

Environmental Artist in Residence Update December 2011

BACKGROUND

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McCracken, was established at the program’s outset to provide ongoing funding and program assistance.

Year One EAIR 2010 Projects and Results

Freedom Park Watershed Sculptures called “

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Park science center that exhibits the animals and plants of the Piedmont Region.

Strong collaborations were established with Charlotte -Mecklenburg Parks & Recreation, Charlotte Nature Museum, the Catawba Lands Conservancy and its Carolina Thread Trail and Queens University’s Environmental Science program.

Over 200 volunteers participated in creating “ Intersections,” and exposure to this project numbers in the thousands of people.

First Ward Erosion Control Pilot Project at Trinity Episcopal School

Th e p i l o t c re ate d a s ys te m o f d ra i n a g e, m e a s u re d p o l l u t i o n / wate r q u a l i t y, siltation and

I n l e s s t h a n a y e a r, e r o s i o n w a s m i t i g a t e d , s o i l i s r e b u i l d i n g a n d

Year Two EAIR 2011 Projects and Results

the Recharging of Ground Water in Freedom Park

The EAIR project in Freedom Park attracted a Royal Bank of Canada Bluewater Grant. Using discarded Christmas trees, supplied by Lowes, McCormick and the community, including 20 RBC bank employees, collaborated to create a pilot project.

Expanded number of partners.

“Everyone Drinks the Water,� Lakewood Storm Drain Iconography

Lakewood is a challenged urban neighborhood of roughly 700 residents that is currently undergoing revitalization. Habitat for Humanity has built nearly 40% of the new homes in the community. A 47-acre birds populate a nearby creek. creek, learned about their life cycles, drew pictures of them and used the pictures as templates to create storm drain icons.

“Everyone Drinks the Water,� Lakewood Storm Drain Iconography

Neighborhood children worked with ceramic artist, Tom Thoune, and educators to create iconic sculptures that remind citizens of the importance of clean storm drains.

The sculptures were installed at four storm drains in the Lakewood community.

Daniel McCormick and Tom Thoune established relationships and worked closely with the Lakewood CDC and Neighborhood Association.

Invasive Species Removal in Freedom Park

Artists Daniel McCormick, Mary O’Brien and Bev Nagy worked with Conservationist James Collins and volunteers to design systems for invasive plant mitigation.

Invasive material was plotted in grids and data charted. evaluated over the next year.

, Trinity Episcopal School

expressed in the creative design of a watershed swale drain.

EAIR’s First Two Years During the EAIRs first two years of operation, McColl Center for Visual Art has developed new community partners, gained national exposure, enhanced program management and recruited artists.

Program management has evolved to include artists Daniel McCormick and Mary O’Brien, as well as James Collins, Mecklenburg County’s 2010 Urban Conservationist of the Year. EAIR program integration is having a profound impact on all aspects of the Center’s operations.

The reach of community collaboration has been expanded beyond the CharlotteM e ck l e n b urg S ch o o l s, Ch a r l o tte -M ec k lenb urg Par ks & R ec reat ion, Cat awba L a n ds Conservancy, Nature Museum, Queens University and Trinity Episcopal School/1st Ward to include the Lakewood neighborhood CDC, Mecklenburg County Soil & Water District personnel, and Lifespan, a facility and community-based ser vices organization for individuals with disabilities. A list of additional potential partners has been created.

The EAIR has been discussed in the US Airways in-flight magazine, Sculpture Magazine, The Charlotte Observer and Charlotte’s Creative Loafing newspaper. Invitations for information have been received from UNCC’s Urban Institute Online Magazine and WEAD (Women Environmental Artists Directory). It is listed on the McColl Center website.

EAIR program management rewrote the language of the Call for Artists and enhanced application guidelines to reflect more accurately the program's core principles. Mention of the four principles was strengthened in all written materials.

The reach to attract artists has included a publication of the Call for Artists to 18 related websites (national/international), announcements distributed to 40-plus influential ar t professors, arts professionals and environmental activists, McColl Center artists’ email blast and strategically placed ads.

Future sites have been identified and their needs assessed. These sites are based on location, access and the surrounding community. They include parks, greenways and open spaces.

The Nature Museum and its parent, Discovery Place, have drafted an environmental education model and assessment tool that maps and measures four areas: Building the next generation of environmental stewards through the implementation of environmental education Creating community action across generations Informing the development of curriculum Informing what is built, measured and how it is used

The Environmental Artist in Residence Program is made possible by:

RBC Blue Water Project

Foundation for the Carolinas

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The Blumenthal Foundation

The Nathan Cummings Foundation

The Surdna Foundation

The Duke Energy Foundation

McColl Center for Visual Art is supported, in part, by a Basic Operating Grant from the Arts & Science Council; as well as the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, North Carolina Arts Council with funding from the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art; and the generosity of corporate and individual donors.