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Alterations: Tailored Solutions to Climate Change – a traveling exhibition
Alterations: Tailored Solutions to Climate Change is my second solo traveling exhibition. Like my first traveling show, ReDress Upcycled Style, Alterations began as a year-long exhibition in the Atlanta International Airport. It feels like a long time ago when my sister, Becky, and I drove the sculptures from my home in Portland, Oregon to Atlanta in February 2020. Little did any of us know that the world would soon be plunged into a worldwide pandemic that would change everything so dramatically. Since then, the world saw that when we worked together, we were able to change the course of the pandemic. This is an important lesson for us to remember as we address climate change.
The process of collaboration is the most important aspect of this new show. Every sculpture in Alterations involved a partnership with other individuals and/or organizations. Over the seven years it took to create this body of work, I found that collaborating with others has become an essential part of art making. All the sculptures in this show reflect a collaboration of one kind or another. At the end of this post are photos with links that highlight many of those who helped to create the sculptures.
Below are a few highlights of the partnerships that inspired this exhibition; one that I never could have been made alone.
The Exhibition’s Message
I worked closely with the staff of Ecochallenge.org and Project Drawdown to develop the core message of the exhibition. Inspiring people to make changes in their life to reduce carbon in the atmosphere is the heart of the exhibition. The Drawdown Ecochallenges that are connected to each sculpture, became a powerful tool to make science-based solutions understandable and accessible. Visit Ecochallenge.org/ALT to see how each sculpture links to a powerful action to reverse climate change and take the challenges that inspire you!
This messaging was further highlighted with the help of Alan Ransenberg, a professional exhibition designer who contributed by designing the layout, color choices, and clean look of the exhibition.
The Suit of Invisible Settler Privilege
The most important sculpture in this show to me is the Suit of Invisible Settler Privilege. It was co-created with Deana Dartt, PhD. (Coastal Chumash and Mestiza, descending from the indigenous people of the Californias.) Deana is part of the decolonizing movement in museums, environmental organizations, government agencies and private and non-profit organizations. Part of her work includes cultural sensitivity trainings to groups across the country. In 2018 Deana invited me to develop arts integration activities for her trainings. One outgrowth of this collaboration is this sculpture that explores privileges that non-Native people have that Indigenous peoples don’t have. For example:
- I can see myself and my ethnic group represented in a wide variety of media and popular culture (that are not predominantly stereotypes).
- As a non-Native person I do not worry that when I die that my language might die with me.
This collaboration with Deana was especially meaningful and is the first of several we have in the works. As a result of the exhibition in Muscatine, the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, an international foundation located in Muscatine, has commissioned Deana and I to create a sculpture for their new headquarters. Stay tuned for more details about this exciting project!
The Connection between Colonization and Climate Change
An outgrowth of my collaboration with Deana is the realization that the lands stolen through colonization made consumerism and extractive industries possible. This in turn contributed to climate change, pollution of the air, water and soil, and multiple environmental social justice issues. These concepts, along with land acknowledgements and quotes of Native wisdom, are woven throughout the exhibition.
Exhibition Videos
I was also fortunate to collaborate with film maker Brady Holden who created the short film above that accompanies Alterations. The video includes the creation process of several of the sculptures in the exhibition. Brady won an award for another short film he created about my sculpture “Pacifica”, which is also part of the show.
A traveling exhibition
I am now partnering with Cynthia Graves and her business Guest Curator, to tour Alternations around the United States. Cynthia places traveling art exhibitions in museums and art centers around the US and managed my first Atlanta exhibition, ReDress that traveled throughout the country for over 5 years. My hope is that Alterations will do the same.
Alterations second stop after the Atlanta Airport, was the Muscatine Art Center in Iowa in the summer/fall 2021. Staff there, used the exhibition to engage many different parts of the community including: book groups, local beekeepers, the City’s solid waste/recycling/water conservation departments, and the local library. The City also broadcast an interview with me about the exhibition on the local cable access channel. In conjunction with the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, the Art Center offered summer tours for kids that were followed by zoom workshops I led from my home in Portland. One lesson we have learned during COVID is that virtual meetings, presentations and workshops can be very effective. Additionally, virtual instead of in-person presentations and workshops cut down on the carbon emissions created by my traveling for these activities.
The next stop for the show will be in January 2022 at the Harnett Museum of Art, part of the University of Richmond Museums in Richmond, Virginia. I’m eager to see how the Museum staff will share the exhibition with the community and especially with the University departments and classes. Education has always been the primary goal of my work and so being hosted by educational organizations is especially exciting to me!
Collaboration, partnerships, teamwork, cooperation is what has made this exhibition on climate change possible and is, I believe, our hope for the future.
Thank you to all who collaborated on this exhibition!
Deana Dartt, Nicole Morris-Judd, Liz Zavodsky, David Macek, Alan Ransenberg, Brady Holden, Becky Judd, Barbara Backstrand, Kristin Wessel, Rob Greenfield, Terri Shank, Debbie Pickering, Mitch Maxson, Julia Amato, Kaileigh Westermann, Lisa Appel, Barry Morgenstern, Josh Judd, Jennifer Tuvell, Diane Pansire, Ian Bell, Jayne Vetter, David Judd, Martha Sorensen, Kim Davison, Melanie Alexander, Arwen Kuttner, Toby Herzlich, Joyce Helling, Camille Riley, Derek Peterson, Russell Parks and Julia White, John G Clark, Bette Bradbury, John Lawrence, Mary Beebe, Jeana Edelman, Lee Carrothers, Jenifer Prendergast, Box Studio (Kevin and Jennifer Box), Susie Peterson, Sandrine Perez, Donna Murphy, Russell Parks, Annette Bellamy, Agnes Noonan, Mary Hoffman, John Olson, Bruce Yates, Dylan Lawrence, Carrie Williams, Mercedes Encinias, Shana Morris, Frances Ku, Loretta Martinez, Lisa Hatchadoorian, Leemil Hardison, Ned Morris, Jackie Caballero, Maia Lawrence, Ley and Karl Schleich, Mabel and Michele Quintanta-English, Kevin Di Palma, Wyn Lewis, Kim Davidson, Cat Wilt, Bill Meador, Charlotte Cooke, Nita and Clay Judd, Emily Cooke, Kim McCormick, Betsy Pridmore, Steve Welch, Horizons Sustainable Financial Services, Heart In Diamond (sustainable diamonds made from ashes), the Nature Conservancy of Oregon, Surfrider Foundation, Port of Portland, Beacon Converters, Ecochallenge.org, Project Drawdown
