Chinook Bend in Carnation, WA, is a 58 acre park on one of the last pristine salmon spawning rivers. As a public art project, Betsy Damon has been meeting local residents, waste water treatment employees and native people and members of the Public Art Committee. Betsy reports: “The question to myself is: How to make an art work in a wild place, and make it about water without impacting the salmon. Cobble, temperature and volume of water are the key elements that make this place good for wild fish. Some berms will be removed permitting the river to run wild.
The Trinity Lake Project in Dallas, Texas, is underway! The project team consists of innovative people who are hoping to make this a sustainable model. The eco-design team includes: John Todd, a great mind who invented Living System Design (systems which clean rivers, solar aquatics systems, biological wise water systems), Brad Goldberg sculptor from Dallas and Betsy.
The Ballona Creek Network in Los Angeles now has a mission statement and Lucy Blake Elahi, Christophe Cassidy and Paul Herzog are starting a series of artist’s actions. The Ballona Creek group is reorganizing themselves to better collaborate with other groups and initiate their mission. www.saveballona.org
Bowling Green State University, Ohio, hosted a Water Works show of five artists. The event was accompanied by a day for water and Betsy gave the luncheon talk, participated in a panel and spent time talking with students.
Mt. Shasta, California, watershed protection (See article in Winter 2006/07 Newsletter) is progressing towards generating sustainable ways to benefit the region economically. By establishing sound science and policy, Siskiyou County will be better prepared to govern their water resources in a way that does not leave precious and pristine Mt. Shasta water vulnerable to large scale export.
The fountain for the Hope and Healing Center in Memphis, Tennessee is finished and waiting to be shipped from Beijing.
Among the many projects that we are connected with are Bronwyn Berman in Australia who is initiating an integrated water system for a large scale project to clean up an old mining site and Liza Behrendt (visit www.beautyofwater.org) who’s project ‘Dreaming the Waters’ is bringing attention to rivers in Kerala, India. She is now communicating with many in the area. I suspect her project will grow to proportions as yet unimagined.
Upcoming speaking engagements for Betsy:
February 21-22, 2008 Damon speaks in Santa Fe, NM March 7, 2008 Damon is the keynote in West Palm Springs April 22-26, 2008 Key speaker at Sustainable Cities Conference, Berkeley, CA
