FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kate Parmelee, APR
Director of Communications and Marketing
Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties
(561) 659-6800 | [email protected]
Unique Eco-art
Project Coming to Martin
County
A grant from
the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties
will allow The Arts Council to facilitate this groundbreaking project
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (January 15,
2009) - A cutting edge approach to addressing environmental problems using the
creativity of the arts will launch in Martin County this spring, thanks to a
grant from the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties to The Arts Council in Stuart.
The Eco-art
project is a collaboration between The Arts Council and the South Florida Environmental Art Project, Inc. The project will launch on April 2, 2009 with a one-day symposium
showcasing three highly successful Eco-Art projects, which will also be
broadcast online at greenmuseum.org. A film series of short films and videos on
the environment and eco-art will also take place. The exhibition will feature
documentation of several environmental performance art pieces from New York City gallery Exit Art's 2007 show
"EPA" (Environmental Performance Art) as well as the work of renowned Florida-resident Ecoartist Xavier Cortada. Cortada's contribution will include both an installation
of red mangrove propagules and videos of his groundbreaking "Reclamation Project."
According to the
Mangrove Action Project, mangrove forests are among the most threatened
habitats in the world. This grant presents an innovative project that responds
to environmental concerns in an artistic and educational manner. The project brings together community members
on a common issue, by gaining participation from the city to reforest mangroves
along the waterway and from community volunteers to assist in reseeding.
Project
volunteers will visit public and retail spaces with mangrove seedlings in hand,
asking that they exhibit the seedlings. In the fall, volunteers will plant
these seedlings in coastal areas, reclaiming them for nature. The reforestation
and volunteer effort will be implemented in partnership with the Ocean Research and Conservation Association (ORCA). An artist
workshop and an apprentice program for South Florida
resident professional artists who wish to explore ecoart as a new creative
direction will be scheduled following the exhibit.
"The grant from
the Community Foundation will help The Arts Council and our partners position
the Treasure Coast as a center for ecoart," said
Nancy Turrell, Executive Director of the Arts Council, Inc.
"This grant will
facilitate an extraordinary yet most natural marriage of two powerful forces in
our community: the artistic and the environmental," said Osvaldo Monzon,
Chair of the Arts Council Court House Cultural Center Committee and Deputy
Director of the Elliott Museum. "The Treasure
Coast will have the
opportunity to become a national leader in an art practice that is at the
forefront of the promotion of environmental stewardship and cultural
understanding."
The Ecoart Project
grant is among the nearly $1.3 million in new grants distributed this month to
21 nonprofit organizations serving a wide range of needs in Palm Beach and Martin counties. Funding of
the Ecoart Project was made possible through contributions from the Fox Fund,
the Mosaic Fund, the Dreyfoos Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fund
and the General Unrestricted Fund of the Community Foundation.
"The Community
Foundation makes me aware of opportunities that I may want to support through
my fund," said Kathryn Fox Winokur, a donor of the Community Foundation who
supported the project. "This project meets my charitable interests and passion
for the arts perfectly."
"The Ecoart Project
grant is a prime example of how the Community Foundation can make innovative
projects possible through the collective power of multiple donors who care
about the community," said Deborah Pucillo, Chair of the Grants Management
Committee and Vice Chair of the Community Foundation. "The Ecoart Project was
particularly compelling as it addresses both the Arts and the Environment, two
of our grantmaking priorities, in a powerful way."
Another feature
of the project the Community Foundation found worthy is its emphasis on
community building and civic engagement to creatively address threats to the
environment. The emphasis in eco-art is away
from the focus on individual artistic intention and inspiration, and on
collaboration: across disciplines, artist to scientist to public official and
beyond.
The Treasure
Coast Ecoart education and apprenticeship collaboration is the first of its
kind. The aim is to create a replicable program.
"The Community
Foundation has taken on something that has the potential to bring creativity to
the environmental movement in ways that have not been done before," said Mary
Jo Aagerstoun, Founder/President of the South Florida Environmental Art Project,
Inc.
More information on the project is
available at www.yourcommunityfoundation.org
and www.martinarts.org. A video on the
project will soon be available at www.youtube.com/palmbeachmartincf.
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About the Community Foundation for Palm Beach
and Martin Counties
The Community Foundation for Palm Beach
and Martin Counties has been creating lasting value
for our communities for more than 35 years. The Foundation accepts
contributions from individuals, families, businesses, corporations and other
foundations in support of community initiatives, special projects and permanent
endowment. Income from endowment is used to make grants and award scholarships
primarily in Palm Beach
and Martin counties. Since 1972, the Community Foundation has awarded more
than $74 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and over $4.5 million in
scholarships to more than 1,200 students. For more information, contact the
Community Foundation at (561) 659-6800 or visit www.yourcommunityfoundation.org.
About the Arts
Council
The Arts Council is the designated local arts agency for Martin County.
The Arts Council provides services to visual and performing artists, arts
organizations, students and the public and strives to instill a passion for and
participation in the arts. For more information, please call 772-287-6676 or
visit www.martinarts.org.
About the South Florida Environmental Art Project, Inc.
The South Florida Environmental Art Project's primary role
is to educate the general public, and
leaders of key environmental and cultural stakeholder organizations, in South Florida, regarding the significant role ecoart can play to enhance responsible stewardship of
environmental resources and to develop ecoart apprenticeships for Florida resident professional artists, in order to expand ecoart as a practice in the region. To learn more visit www.sfeap.org.