Art Contest Submission by Kenneth Leaning

The Cyclopedia of Sustainability

by Kenneth Leaning

My submission idea, The Cyclopedia of Sustainability, is a large book, a book that has the form of and appearance of an alchemist’s log, or a sorcerer’s book of spells.  It would be approximately 36” tall by 24” wide with a binding made of recycled cardboard and covered in canvas or hemp fabric and held together with earth-friendly adhesives. The pages would be made from, again, recycled paper, or of handmade papers and would contain, written by hand, in biodegradable, non-toxic inks, a series of stories, designs, theories, and practices which convey and promote sustainability. The pages would be illuminated as were the texts translated and transcribed by medieval monks and educated elders. The mysterious appearance of the text is intended to show the irony of how accessible the ‘secret formulae’ for sustainable living is to all people. It is not some quaint antiquity, or lost art, but instead, a state of mind easily achieved if one breaks free of modernistic, blasé consumerism.

This book might be the centerpiece of a compendium of information on how to spare the planet our overbearing presence. It would have, of course, all of its contents and resources available simultaneously on the internet – that great saver of paper. Its component information will be gathered from many sources, making it a book written, ultimately, by the community, for the community. It might be one original volume, or their might be sequels, as developed out of the Foxfire series of books on Appalachian folklore.

My background is in architecture and, as such, I am accustomed to team building. I imagine this Cyclopedia being created by a collaborative of artists, students, scientists, academicians, et al. whose involvement would be rewarded with publicity and honor. The materials and coordination costs would be easily covered by the $5000 award. My role would be to design, delegate, organize and, generally, produce the finished work.


PROFESSIONAL OBJECTIVES

To create spaces, landscapes, artifacts & artworks which function beautifully and invigorate the spirit and the planet.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS, APTITUDES AND EXPERIENCE RANGE
Architectural, landscape, furniture, product and tradeshow exhibit design; Existing buildings measuring and drafting; Construction and personnel management; Computer literacy in CADD (AutoCAD 2005 &’07, Cadvance), Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Corel; Carpentry (all phases), interior finish work (tile, painting, lighting design, trim, space planning), architectural modelmaking, cabinetmaking, mechanical repair, plumbing, light electrical; Landscape, hardscape and garden installation and maintenance; Art and real estate/construction photography; Writing, editing and proofing.

WORK HISTORY
Sole proprietor, Elysian Arts 1992- Present Greater New England
Ongoing operation of a small, independent, art, design and fabrication business creating works involving:

  • Residential projects, garden development, out-buildings, stone wall and walkway design and construction;
  • Furniture (built-in and free-standing) design, construction, installation and finishing;
  • Restoration of antique (or collectible) architectural details, furniture and decorative items;
  • Photography (with as-needed, computer retouching) for sale at art shows and for professional portfolios;
  • Exhibit and display installations designed and executed for corporate administration buildings;
  • Co-produced, wrote, directed, edited, narrated a 1997 grant-funded, documentary film. Wrote grant proposal.
  • Independent Contractor to Solpoints, Inc. Dec.’06- Sept.‘07 Wilbraham, MA
  • Designed tradeshow exhibit booths and component details using 3d modeling and rendering in AutoCAD 05 &07
  • Independent Contractor to Regional Builders, Inc. Mar.- Nov. 2006 Monson, MA
  • Designed several renovations and worked at all phases of carpentry for residential building company.
  • Project Designer/Job Captain, Architectural Insights, Inc. 1998-2005 Palmer, MA
  • Ran three multi-million dollar VA Hospital renovation projects. Acted as designer, project manager, detail
  • drafter, specifier and estimator. Personally responsible for creating all architectural construction documents
  • and coordinating project development with client and all consulting engineering teams;
  • Designer and/or cadd drafter on over 90 residential, commercial, municipal, ecclesiastical and hospital/health
  • care projects of varying scale, bringing code-compliant, approval-ready construction documents to completion;
  • Proofed and edited public media releases and marketing materials; performed most office operational duties;
  • Trained all new employees in office procedures and computer software systems. Cabinetmaker/Antiques Restorer, Beckerman Antiques, Inc. 1993-1998 Boston, MA
  • Managed daily operation of high quality antiques restoration and sales facility;
  • Restored antique furniture, frames, paintings, accessories and artworks using techniques, which included: carving, casting, turning, gilding, welding, distressing, color toning, machining, finish matching and more.
  • Modelmaker, Trip Tech Models, Inc. 1990-1991 Waltham, MA
  • Constructed highly detailed architectural models for international clients in costs ranging between $20-250K
  • Team leader on model for Philadelphia’s 30th Street Railway Station.
  • Draftsman/Modelmaker, Archtellic Architects, Inc. 1987-1989 Boston, MA
  • Carpenter, Alex Skene, builder 1986-1987 Brookline, MA
  • Program Supervisor, Palmer Associates, Inc. 1981-1986 Palmer, MA
  • Managed community based residential program, with a staff of ten, for alternatively capable adults.

EDUCATION
Boston Architectural Center (B. Arch program) 1986-1993 Boston, MA
University of Massachusetts (Liberal Arts, Regional Planning) 1977-1981,’98-‘99 Amherst, MA
Institute for American Universities (French) Fall 1980 Aix-en-Provence,
France

Art Contest Submission by Trish Crapo

GOOD NEWS!

Sustainability Thrives in the Pioneer Valley
A Photo-documentary by Trish Crapo

Gas prices break $4.00/gallon, global temperatures hit landmark highs, fuel supplies at near record lows – too often, we hear only bad news. The problems we face seem so large and all encompassing, it’s easy to get disheartened. But in communities nationwide and right here in our own Pioneer Valley, people are taking matters into their own hands – helping each other install solar hot water systems, teaching teens to grow food without chemical pesticides or fertilizers, riding bicycles to work, advocating for solar and electric cars…

I want to broadcast this good news.

These grassroots efforts aim to create sustainability in our food, heating and fuel systems. At the same time, they forge connections between individuals that build vibrant, sustainable communities. It’s win-win — and I’d like people to know about it.

Through photos and interviews, I will bring the good work of people in our region to light. Some organizations I’ll approach include:

  • Seeds of Solidarity, Orange, MA, a sustainable farm and educational center that “provides people of all ages with the inspiration and practical tools to use renewable energy and grow food in their communities.”
  • Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Greenfield, MA, promoting energy conservation and non-polluting, renewable energy technologies.
  • Gardening the Community Youth Agriculture Project, growing organic food and promoting bicycling as sustainable transportation in Springfield, MA.
  • Co-op Power’s Member to Member Program, helping people to install solar hot water systems at their homes.

Good News! will take two forms.

One, an exhibition of 30 large (16×20) photographs printed with environmentally friendly black and white inks on salvaged or recycled paper. The show will include printed excerpts from interviews with people involved in the sustainability projects and music (on DVD) by local musicians. Potential exhibition spaces include A.P.E. in Northampton and The Pushkin in Greenfield.  I will seek a Springfield exhibition as well.

Two, a digital multimedia show made available to local access cable television stations or linked to the website of one or more of the organizations featured in the show. The multimedia show will include more images and interviews than the print exhibition, plus incorporate music by local musicians. DVDs of the project could also be made available to schools and libraries.

Good News! is a portrait, in words and images, of sustainability in the Pioneer Valley. The project is documentary at its heart – it strives to accurately describe the state of sustainability at this specific time. But because I believe in the power of seeing, in the tendency of good ideas to generate more good ideas, Good News! has the potential to be a motivational force toward the creation of future projects.

I hope people will look at my images and say, “Hey, look at what those folks are doing. We could do something like that too.”

The enclosed photos from Franklin County’s Relay for Life event provide a sampling of my work.

 

See Below for Experience

TRISH CRAPO
Writer, photographer
Telling Stories with Light

www.trishcrapo.com

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT
I am a writer and photographer living in Leyden, Massachusetts. I’ve recently completed the intensive 10-month program at Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, MA. Hallmark gave me the professional photographic skills I was seeking in order to put imagery and text together to create compelling photo-documentary stories. I’m most interested in spreading the word about grassroots efforts to affect positive change. As a published poet, I bring my respect for the power of the image to photography.

PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE

Summer 2008 Part-time staff photographer, The Recorder, Greenfield, MA
Spring 2008 Event photographer, Hallmark Institute of Photography, Student Open House, Turners Falls, MA
June 2008 Event photographer, Hallmark Institute of Photography, covering Relay for Life, Greenfield, MA
May 2008 Event photographer, WGBY, Paradise City Arts Festival, Northampton, MA
March 2008 Event photographer, WGBY, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Holyoke, MA


PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS

Proficiency on the Mamiya 645D medium-format camera, both film and digital capture
Proficiency on 4×5 large-format cameras, both film and digital capture
Portrait studio, including lighting and posing
Commercial studio, including product and still life photography
Photojournalism projects, including environmental portraits and event coverage

EXHIBITIONS

  Summer 2008  Doctors Without Borders Benefit Exhibition, Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography, Turners Falls, MA
Spring 2008 Open House, Hallmark Institute of Photography, Turners Falls, MA
Fall 2007 Altered Realities, Cooler Gallery, White River Junction, VT

WRITING & EDITING

  January 2004  Founding member of Slate Roof, A Publishing Collective, Northfield MA. Publishing Franklin County poets in limited edition chapbooks with letterpress covers that feature the work of local artists. Received Massachusetts Local Cultural Council awards from nine out of ten Franklin County towns applied to in the 2005 and 2006 funding cycles.
2005–present Fiction columnist for The Women’s Review of Books, Wellesley, MA.
1999–2007 Editing and manuscript consultation. Tutoring in writing. Clients include: The Center for Research on Women and The Women’s Review of Books, Wellesley, MA as well as local poets and writers.
1989–1999 Co-owner of Word of Mouth, a desktop publishing company offering research, writing, editing and proofreading, as well as design and layout of newsletters and brochures. Clients included: Organic Trade Association; Northeast Sustainable Energy Association; Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund; Pioneer Valley Folklore Society (all in Greenfield, MA); The New England Small Farm Institute, Belchertown, MA; Ozark Small Farm Viability Project, Bass, AR
  Researched and wrote a guide for journalists to understand the Organic Foods Production Act, brochure copy on organic products and articles for the Organic Trade Association’s monthly trade magazine, as well as articles for Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s The Northeast Sun.

PUBLICATIONS

  2004–present  Fiction review column, The Women’s Review of Books, Wellesley, MA.
Winter 2006-07 Learning by Heart, essay with photos, New England Watershed Magazine, Hatfield, MA.
July/August 2006 You Don’t Have to Take a Dog, poem, Bark, Berkeley, CA.
November 2004 Walk Through Paradise Backwards, poetry chapbook, Slate Roof: A Publishing Collective, Northfield, MA.
Winter 2003-04 Salt, poem, Southern Poetry Review, Savannah, GA.
Winter 2002-03 Surfacing and Gong, poems, Southern Poetry Review, Savannah, GA.
Fall 2002 The Conquerable World, poem, Crossing Paths: An Anthology of Women Poets, Mad River Press, Richmond, MA.
Fall 2001 These Are The Words, and Ordinary Epiphany, commentaries aired on WAMC, Albany Public Radio.
Fall 2001 Homing, poem, Sanctuary: The Magazine of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Lincoln, MA.
June 2001 First Love: Nine Reasons Her Heart Was So Agitated, poem, A Kiss Is Still A Kiss, Outrider Press, Crete, IL.
Fall 2000 A Couple of Things You Might Like to Know About Me, poem,
The Anthology of New England Writers, 2000, Windsor, VT.
November 1999 Ceremonial Breakage, poem, Sanctuary: The Magazine of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Lincoln, MA.
August 1998 Burning Home, novel, accepted by Richard Parks Agency, New York, NY.
July 1998 My Husband’s Clover Plants: Or Why We Farm Organically, essay, in Taste Life! The Organic Choice, Vital Health Publishing, Bloomingdale, IL.
June 1998 Moon Poem and Desire, poems, Five Minute Pieces, Arms Library, Shelburne Falls, MA.

AWARDS

  February, 2008  Finalist, Photographer’s Forum magazine’s 28th Best of College contest
September, 2007 Creative Concept Contest, Hallmark Institute of Photography

EDUCATION
Hallmark Institute of Photography, June 2008, Turners Falls MA
MFA in Writing, May 1989, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
BA, January 1980, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA

Art Contest Submission by Erica Wheeler

Sustainability in Place

by Erice Wheelerwww.ericawheeler.com
Singer/songwriter, workshop facilitator, speaker

Goal: To foster engagement in sustainability by engaging peoples hearts. This project generate stories of place through a series of “free” writing workshops, to be followed with a public presentation of the works created. “Free” writing workshops will be geared towards all residents from all walks of life, all ages, incomes and levels of experience.

My work is dedicated to connecting and re-connecting people with their sense of place. Songs I have written help to evoke a sense of place in the listener, while my hands-on writing workshops provide the opportunity for participants to uncover their own stories of place and belonging. I have significant experience in organizing, offering and promoting public events, having been a full time touring singer-songwriter for over 15 years and, for the past 8 years having presented my workshop “The Soulful Landscape” at conferences, events and learning centers across the country. In addition, I have a career as a keynote speaker, offering presentations focused on the importance of emotionally connecting people and place. I combine my background in the performing arts and my life-long interest in the environment and cultural history to offer relevant and inspiring presentations.

This current work has brought me full circle to when I was new to the valley, as a student at Hampshire College. The bulk of my work there was a project entitled “ A Sense of Self, A Sense of Place,” which focused on how we effect our environment and how our environment effects us.  Living in the valley now for  almost 25 years, I have lived here long enough to witness changes, both positive and negative.   My most recent CD has songs about people and their relationship to place from different perspectives, and several are about the valley itself. “Good Summer Rain,” is a song, which tells the story of a valley farm sold and developed. “To Deep Water,” is a song I wrote about a lake near my home in Colrain, reflecting the beauty of this area and what it means to me.

I believe our current state of environmental degradation comes the disconnection we have between our surroundings and ourselves. When we get caught up in our individual needs and busy modern-day lives, we make choices that have immediate rewards with dire consequences for the future.  Wendell Berry has written: “ You don’t know who you are if you don’t know where you are.” I believe we can reverse our course of disconnection in several ways. You can give people the information, skills and tools they need to make new choices, but we cannot create lasting change without first creating a change of heart. Our stories of connection from the heart are a crucial spoke in the wheel sustainability. As author Terry Tempest Willams wrote “Story bypasses rethoritc and pierces the heart.”

 I teach “The Soulful Landscape” so people at any age, with any level of experience, can gain the skills needed to communicate effectively what it is they love most about their  “place,” and what it means to them. These workshops help to generate memories, imagery, and metaphors, which can be crafted in, to song, stories, essays or poems. I would like to help others find and express their voice, so that everyone can be part of the sustainable conversation. Often the word “sustainability” conjures up ideas of elitism: being something only for those with the income, education or liberal leanings to create and enjoy. Our future demands our “whole community” participate. For those already engaged in sustainability, our stories will help keep us inspired and focused on the deeper meaning of the work we do. For those unfamiliar with sustainability we can give them the “how’ and “why”, but only they themselves can find the reason in their own hearts to change. The opportunity to find and give voice to our stories of place and belonging may be just the incentive some people need. Remembering what we love about the valley, we can make sustainable choices for its future.

Our imagination is the key to a sustainable future. To be able to know and communicate the relationship we have with our surroundings is foundational in our ability to re-imagine our future.  We them can begin to embrace the notion in Aldo Leopold’ wrote about in  “A Sand County Almanac” that “when we see the land as a community to which we belong, we can begin to use it with love and respect,”

 My proposal is to offer  “free” writing workshops for towns in the valley. This will attract people from all age groups, all levels of experience and all walks of life. This will generate songs, stories, essays and pomes, which will help us, understand the diversity of what we love about “our place.” An outcome of Sustainability in Place (proposed title) could also be open mics and potlucks at town meeting halls to create community and share our works.

An additional outcome or direction for my involvement in this project could be to produce a video/audio component, in collaboration with a videographer and/or photographer. This would highlight some different aspects of the valley and include a soundtrack of original songs. An outcome could be a video for PBS or a CD to benefit a local organization.

Ultimately, my project could go three directions or have three components:
1. A series of free writing workshops in valley towns to generate stories of how people lived in a sustainable way here before, and still do.
2. A video honoring of the ways people have lived sustainably off this land and still do.
3. A CD cycle of songs about the valley.
A public presentation of works generated from this project. The public will benefit from this project by a public showing of the work, be that a video on PBS, a CD, chapbook, concert or a reading.

This project will also involve partnership with another organization. Perhaps with The Trust for Public Land, who co-sponsored my current CD, or other organizations like CISA, HCI (Highlands Community Initiative) or the American Farmlands Trust.
Funding will be used for expenses such as: room rentals, publicity, production of concert, video or CD, and for personal income while creating the project and offering it to the public.

Click here to see video of Erica singing “Good Summer Rain”

 

Art Contest Submission by Joe Edelman

*Groundcrew* – Sustainable Community and Sharing Resources in the Pioneer Valley

Joe Edelman
www.nxhx.org

*Groundcrew* is an internet project at www.groundcrew.us based on a collaboration economy — sharing our belongings, time, and skills — using cell phones, the internet, and an alternate currency.

*Groundcrew*:  Sustainable Community and Sharing Resources in the Pioneer Valley

Achieving sustainability will mean reducing consumption, sharing resources, reducing isolation, increasing community, and creating networks of mutual trust.  Groundcrew is an internet project, aimed at making the transition to a sustainable society adventurous, easy, and fun. *Groundcrew* creates a “collaboration economy” — sharing our belongings, time, and skills — by using cell phones, the internet, and an alternate currency.  Text-messaging and live maps can make community into a game.  Participants are encouraged to create positive experiences, help each other achieve goals, share resources, and have fun!

 

 

 

 

How does it work?

  • Individuals join *Groundcrew*, and configure their cell phones to become mobile Agents.
  • Agents organize themselves into Squads, specifying preferred activities or interests.
  • Community Organizers use a web-based map interface, coordinating Agents on the ground in real time.
  • Any *Groundcrew* member can post Wishes, Challenges, or Physical Resources to share.
  • Organizers connect Agents and Squads with postings, giving them Assignments.
  •  All *Groundcrew* members use an alternate, local currency, called “POSX” (positive experience), to reward community goals.  Members gain points when someone reports having a positive experience with them. POSX points are a reputation currency, similar to eBay’s seller point system.  This economy gives Groundcrew members an incentive to honestly help each other, since high-POSX members gain advantages.

*Groundcrew* will improve the world by:

  • Increasing availability and accessibility, to more easily address issues like transportation, resource-sharing, and adventurous fun.
  • Supporting a Wish-realization co-op, granting Wishes, solving community problems, reducing loneliness, isolation, and anxiety.
  • Restructuring economic incentives. Working to create positive experiences leads to higher quality, sustainable lives for all. Businesses will Eventually join the POSX economy.
  • Relying on the pre-existing information infrastructure: cellular phones, the internet, and electricity.  *Groundcrew* has zero extra environmental Impact from material-use or waste.


Global goals:

Achieving a sustainable world involves provisioning six billion people with basic needs and respecting the global ecosystem.  With *Groundcrew*, communities can organize public action, share physical resources, and care for the commons.  City life will change radically, as people engage productively without money. Actively participating in community life can be designed as an adventure, rather than a chore.

Art Contest Submission by David Fessenden

Art Contest Submission

by David Fessenden

The traditional Silversmith has practiced recycling since the art’s inception.  Patrons typically brought their old flatware, vessels and coins to the town silversmith be melted down and hammered into new more fashionable pieces.  This aspect of Steve’s work was recently documented by the Discovery Channel when they included a segment on his work for their “Green Planet” channel with begins airing in June 2008 ,taped in Ashfield at the last week of May.

I met Steve when writing a newspaper story about the chandeliers he made for Sanderson Academy and for the Ashfield Town Hall.  I was struck by Steve’s almost evangelical commitment to rediscovering and preserving the lost techniques of hand wrought silver, copper and brass. Together committed toward  filming a detailed video diary documenting the evolution of Steve’s commissions along with workshops hosted by The Paul Revere House in Boston and Historic Deerfield. We call the gave the project the working title “Painting With A Hammer”  Some of our footage can be viewed on Google video.  A link is also on Steve Smithers web site http://stevesmithers.com/

We were making record time on or project, but we have no idea where we are headed.  Steve and I approached WGBH, Museums and commercial cable outlets and came to the conclusion that in every case we would have to compromise our mission in one way or another in order to fit their programming needs.

 

  1. Concept description:  A twenty minute film on Steve Smithers and his work.  Possibly with narration and defiantly with original music created with local talent.  Subliminally embedded in our film is the supposition that American craftsmanship and locally based, entrepreneurial fabrication of goods has fallen by the wayside in our country.
  2. Final work will be a DVD with all intellectual property rights secured with releases.
  3. Concept of sustainability: The work of a traditional metalsmith, as practiced by Steve Smithers, encompasses many concepts of sustainability.  Since the inception of metalworking more than 5000 years ago, metalsmiths have been recycling their material. Patrons typically brought their damaged or out of fashion vessels, utensils, and coins to be melted down and fashioned into new objects of function and beauty. Steve works with his son to create new objects as well as repairing and conserving antique metal pieces.  They use the classic hand tools of the ancient art, which require human energy, as opposed to the energy intensive process of mass production by machines. Their work is typical of, and well represents the many small art and craft studios throughout the Pioneer Valley  The work produced in these shops is carefully  and well made, destined to be passed down as heirlooms, as opposed to poorly made products which eventually find their way to the landfill.  Steve’s small shop is made of native and local lumber.  He teaches and demonstrates his art in museums, schools, and other locations, helping to foster interest and enthusiasm for this earth friendly movement among the next generation.
  4. Materials to be used:  Existing footage, music yet be purchased, possibly narration and the editorial talents of Harry Keramidas.  Harry is a retired to Ashfield three years ago after a career as a feature film editor.  Harry and I have since collaborated on only what we consider worthwhile film projects such as our 90 minute concert documentary on Village Harmony and an in progress  project for John Bos on the creation of a local hospice choir here in Franklin County.
  5. Our project can be completed within the award amount because most of the footage is shot, we own the equipment and have the technical experience to finish our film.
  6. The film would be available for screening, without charge and distributed for a nominal charge.  Copies would be offered to local libraries and schools free of charge, as I have done with all my locally produced films.
  7. Specifications: A twenty minute film, possibly longer.

I have a BA degree from Ohio University (Communications Radio/TV)  and two years post graduate study toward a MFA in film.  After college I worked as a cameraman in Los Angeles, until 1989 when I left the commercial film industry in order to peruse interests in woodworking arts and crafts. In 2001 I came back Ashfield, MA  to be with family and build a homestead..  The films I make today are projects worthwhile and mostly documentary in nature.  Most of the profits gleaned from video production go toward camera gear and editing hardware. 
 
My five minute short called “The Three Seasons of Winter”  took first place at the First Annual Ashfield Film Festival  last year.   Ongoing and completed video projects this summer include a yet untitled documentary for John Bos’ Rural Renaissance about the formation of a hospice choir group in Franklin County. Recently completed is a 90 minute concert video on Village Harmony’s leaders concert here in Ashfield.  Earlier this spring I recently shot a documentary  video portrait of Sonya Kitchell which is now in post production.