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Thoreau's Legacy at the Union of Concerned Scientists

March 6, 2009

Been missing me? I've been in Boston and then in Florida but I'm back in DC and seeing some art. The first is a show, an organization and a cause tthat I have a strong connection with.

Tom Drymon, Elliott Negin, Micheine Klagsbrun

In 2009, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) (which I serve as a member of the Board of Directors) in partnership with Penguin Classics published “Thoreau’s Legacy,” a book of personal essays on the effect of global warming in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden.” More than 70 writers participated in the project, which can be viewed at http://www.ucsusa.org/americanstories/.

Rita Elsner and "Tranquil"

As a follow-up, UCS invited visual artists to submit work responding to the same theme, the personal significance of the environmental changes associated with climate change. Over 140 pieces of work were submitted with 15 ultimately selected by the jurors, which included Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post art critic; Elliott Negin, UCS Media Director, and yours truly. The artwork is hung in the public spaces of UCS’s Washington, DC green offices at 1825 K St. NW (ask them to tell you about that if you visit) and will be there for a year.

Kathy Karlson, simon O'Sulivan, Pat Goslee

I am constantly bowled over by the generosity of my fellow artists who donate work to worthy causes many times each year. On this occasion, the artists have agreed to lend their work for a year, which is just amazing and I can’t thank them all enough. Note: it is all for sale without commission, so come on by and take a look.
Having said all that, I must confess that the reception was so crowded that I really couldn’t take pictures of the art, just the people with little hints of the art in the background. I will get some images of the art soon and post them.

Sondra Arkin, Jessica Beels, Jenny Freestone

The work, which covers the widest range of media, truly reflects distinctly individual responses to climate disruption, from the delicate drawing of bees, whose pollination makes our food grow, by Rebecca Clark; Laura Moriarty’s wax “Erosion Mountain”, her imaginary geological structure; Elizabeth Morisette’s ominously disquieting oil spill made of shoelaces; JoAnne Schiavone’s photograph of a work of environmental art made by placing a long rope of crocheted plastic bags at the water’s edge, mimicking the tide line; Rita Elsner’s goache of a homestead sinking beneath the rising water; Sondra Arkin’s encaustic of the Sargasso Sea, where the convergence of ocean currents brings the plastic detritus of civilization to one of the world’s great biological nurseries.

Michael O'Sullivan and UCS's Cheryl Siebert

Meanwhile, as you can see, the reception was cooking and of the 15 artists, the 11 who live more or less locally were all there.
The artists include: Sondra Arkin, Jessica Beels, Joan Belmar, Rebecca Clark, Rita Elsner, Jenny Freestone, Pat Goslee, Kathy Karlson, Micheline Klagsbrun, Laura Moriarty, Elizabeth Morisette, Mary Ott, Mark Parascandola and JoAnne Schiavone.

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