LAUREN ELDER EcoProjects

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  • Home
  • Our Work
  • About
  • ART/PERFORMANCE
    • ATLACUALO
    • RITUALES
    • XO
    • BLUE BEE TREE
    • HURRICANE ODILE
    • WATER NEW MEXICO
  • WATER
    • SEA LEVEL RISE
    • ICE: GLACIER MOUNTAIN
    • ICE: WATER CART
    • SEAWEED CAFE
    • ASLO SUMMER 2018
    • FLOATING ART-SCIENCE LAB
    • CONSERVATION: BAJA CALIFORNIA
    • WATER WORKS
  • BAMBOO
    • COLOMBIA: PLAY STRUCTURE
    • ECUADOR: HOG BARN
  • SCHOOL GARDENS
    • PERALTA ELEMENTARY
    • NEW HIGHLAND SCHOOL
    • SEQUOIA ELEMENTARY
    • LA PREPARATORIA MORELOS
  • URBAN AGRICULTURE/FOOD
    • SAN CAFÉ
    • CITY SLICKERS' DESIGN
  • Center for ART + PUBLIC LIFE
  • Contact
  • Archive
WATER RIGHTS RESIDENCY
SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE
MAY 201
7


I was nominated to spend a month at SFAI as one of the artists investigating the local water
scene through community engagement. Plan A: The Santa Fe Watershed Association has an "Arroyo Rats" program in which teens volunteer to collect trash that accumulates in the tributary basins of the Santa Fe River. I had proposed a "trash to art" competition to generate more interest and activity. Nice thought. However, the program only functioned at indeterminate intervals and they were not inclined to extra organizing.
Plan B: Turns out there was a lot to investigate in a water-conscious environment. I started at the head of the watershed in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and worked my way downstream to the area where the
river broadens into a marsh. I spoke with politicians, business operators, policy makers, other artists, the Catholic clergy, local historians, beavers, conservationists, landscape architects, wastewater plant managers, and so on. The outcome was a daily journal of 30 image-text pieces. I donated a print version to the Reading Room at SFAI. Six random samples on view here. Digital copies available on request. 
All Content © 2018 Lauren Elder