UPDATE 10/17/19: Download the short summary from this event here:
https://artist.megkaczyk.com/wp-content/uploads/Intersection-of-Art-and-Environment-Brief-final-7-19.pdf
From my feelings of wondering and helplessness about our environmental crisis, I started thinking about how artists could help. There are many small (but mighty) non-profits doing good work in our region, and beyond. Obviously donating to, and volunteering for those organizations helps in a very real and direct way. But what of artists? What are the ways we can use our individual expressions to support this work? Are there ways to collaborate that we have not thought of? Is something happening across mediums and forms that can coalesce into a unified movement of change and action? Does art have to have a socio-political narrative to have a place in this movement?
To explore this, I submitted a project proposal for a Centrum Artist Residency, which I was awarded for this upcoming May 20-31. I designed a residency plan that supports my current painting themes: Madrona series, Water Ways: Homage to the Salish Sea, and Big Fruit because I realized what I have been working on over the past couple of years reflects good land, good water, good food –– all manifestations of a healthy and beautiful world.
Also as part of the Residency project, I wondered if conversations with non-profits could reveal new collaborations, and perhaps visual inspiration and opportunity could come from finding out more about their work. Initially, I envisioned one-on-one conversations with a few local environmental organizations. But then I thought about some wonderful artists that I would also love to pose these questions to, and that the community might be interested to hear that conversation too. So, on May 22 at 7 pm, as part of Port Townsend School of the Arts and Northwind Art Center’s joint Art Salon series, I will lead a discussion titled “The Intersection of Art and the Environment” between artists Lisa Gilley, David Eisenhour, Margie McDonald and non-profits NW Straits Foundation, Jefferson Land Trust, and Organic Seed Alliance. Great people, great organizations who all care about this place. It’s a free event, please join us!
During the Centrum Residency at Fort Worden, I’ll be painting in Building 205, in a spacious studio surrounded by natural beauty (and good coffee close by!). Due to the fluid nature of my medium, I paint flat, and I paint in successive layers that must dry between sessions… with all that space, I am delighted to be able to paint many pieces at once including 3 ft. x 4 ft. panels for a Water Ways installation piece, more big Big Fruit, and more large Madronas. At the end of the 2-week intensive, I am celebrating with an Open Studio Reception, Thursday May 30 from 5-8pm. All are welcome to enjoy wine and snacks with me, and see what transpired through this time of inquiry and creation.