Friend and photographer, Carla Kimball, documented progress I made in creating When the Moon Came to Earth, a piece for Woodstock, Vermont’s Sculpture Fest. Click to see her first installment and second installment of photographs.
When the Moon Came to Earth – The Process
June 18th, 2012Hands on Pianos – Tree Songs
June 5th, 2012
These images are from the “Hands on Pianos” project I am currently participating in. This piece is called “Tree Songs.” It’s comprised of saplings I painted white and screwed to a piano I painted black. By attaching saplings to the piano, it appears to have the forest reclaim it, or perhaps people will see the piano as growing among a bunch of saplings. There is a beautiful rhythm to a grove of saplings clustered in a forest. The repetition of these vertical elements should compliment the black and white keys of the piano.
The piece will be installed for the month of July in an outside, public space somewhere in Vermont and New Hampshire’s Upper Valley. This project is part of Dartmouth College’s celebration of the Hopkins Center for the Arts’ 50th anniversary. Mine is one of 50 pianos that have been altered by artists that will installed in the region. See more images of the creative process on the official Hands on Pianos website. And find pianos using this map of all installations. I’ll let you know when I learn where my piece will be installed.
“A Rich and Rewarding Experience for All!”
May 25th, 2012
“Jay brought stunning art and a wonderful message to Sharon Elementary School on May 15. He did a beautiful presentation of A Little Farm Story that entertained the kindergartners, 1st and 2nd graders and led to a lively discussion of farming practices and local agriculture with the 3rd and 4th graders.
His sharing of The Turning was a terrific chance for 5th and 6th graders to see a graphic novel in progress and to think about issues of climate change. A rich and rewarding experience for all!”
– Catherine Freese, Sharon Elementary School Librarian
Photos by Catherine Freese
Learn more about bringing Jay to your school or organization for a workshop!
Brightening Local May Day Occupy Event
May 8th, 2012
I participated in a May Day celebration in Lebanon, New Hampshire in solidarity with the national “Occupy” events that were happening all over on 1 May. I brought the sun puppet to brighten up the cold dreary day and also to remind folks that the sun is truly our main power source.
The picture of the stilt figures are of me and Kim Reinlander, another stilt walker. We did a little skit in which I played “Winter” the curmudgeon who is stuck in his ways and wants to maintain the status quo in which the rich get richer and the rest of us just have to deal. This is America after all, the land of opportunity (for some of us). Winter, however, loves freazing everything: frozen assets, frozen wages… if you are left out in the cold get over it. “Spring,” on the other hand, is planting seeds of hope and is all about change. To Winter she is chaos and a threat to his existence. He tried to hold on but fortunately the audience was on the side of Spring and eventually they blew Winter off the stage. The crowd celebrated by dancing around the May Pole.
Systems Thinking through Art in Nature
April 13th, 2012
Art in nature piece by Dominic Stucker
By guest writer, Dominic Stucker, Program Manager at Sustainability Leaders Network. Based on participation in several of my art in nature workshops, Dominic offers these reflections.
Systems thinking and creativity are essential for bringing about the transition to sustainability. Systems thinking helps us assemble diverse stakeholders to better understand the integrated economic, social, and environmental systems we seek to change. Creativity and art help us gain clarity in vision and tap into the breakthrough thinking necessary for innovating a new reality, a new relationship between people and planet. Fortunately, these leadership skills are mutually reinforcing, especially through making art in nature.
Immersing ourselves in nature, sitting quietly, eyes opened, eyes closed, we can hone our skills of observation, noticing patterns and processes that have evolved over millennia. Using all our senses, we can experience and learn from nature. Perhaps we see the streams, brooks, and river in a basin, noticing nature’s nested hierarchies. Or we reflect on the larger water cycle, a process that, instead of linear and polluting, is cyclical and cleansing. Gazing skyward from a soft bed of pine needles, we can observe the forest’s resilience in flexibility, trees swaying in the wind. Or we smell the pungent soil, part of annual cycle that returns sustenance to the trees’ roots. Perhaps we see the genius in a flower, tracking the sun and folding its petals at dusk; or in the capacity of a cactus to store water; or in the design of a feather. We can learn from and co-create with these natural systems.
I have had the privilege and joy of participating in several Art of Sustainability sessions with Vermont artist and educator, Jay Mead. Two that stand out were along the Housatonic River in rural Connecticut and along a wild part of the Connecticut River in Vermont. Jay invites participants to see nature anew through quiet observation, sensing, and play. The invitation includes being fully present, setting aside transient to do lists and deep-seated preconceptions about how the world works. Participants are asked to start from a place of unknowing – playful for some, meditative for others – being open for deeper wisdom to emerge.