The Native Flags project is a pioneering ecoart work in South Florida, taking its place in a worldwide art movement that is encouraging the fusion of culture with environmental stewardship.
Ecoart projects are distinguished from “regular” art works by their ameliorative interventions that occur in “nature,” and with “nature.”
The emphasis in ecoart is away from the focus on individual artistic intention and inspiration, and on collaboration across disciplines—artist to scientist to public official and beyond.
Ecoart also engages communities to address environmental problems directly, and in highly creative ways.
Mary Jo Aagerstoun, Ph.D., discusses about ecoart in South Florida in her newsletter to the South Florida Environmental Art Project, Inc.
The Native Flags project is an ecoart work because:
- Its objectives are informed by scientific knowledge and findings.
- Its products involve the creation of objects as well as the instigation of processes toward bioremediation.
- It advocates for, and illuminates cutting edge scientific discoveries through visually engaging art products and processes.
- It animates communities toward direct involvement in environmental stewardship at all stages of the art project’s creation.
To learn more about ecoart’s roots, its international influence and its local presence in South Florida, please go to www.sfeap.org, the website of the South Florida Environmental Art Project, Inc (website no longer active).