Arts Council brings eco-art to the Treasure Coast:

Volunteers to reclaim coastal areas for nature

On April 2nd, 2009, the Arts Council serving Martin County will present The Reclamation Project, a solo exhibit by artist Xavier Cortada in the Art Gallery at the Martin County Courthouse Cultural Center located in downtown Stuart, Florida.

The eco-art exhibit, organized by the Council’s Art Gallery Commitee and its chair Osvaldo Monzon, will include an installation of red mangrove propagules and videos of Cortada’s eco-art work.

During the exhibit, the Council will also present eco-art lectures organized by Dr. Mary Jo Aagerstoun from the South Florida Environmental Art Project (see http://www.sfeap.org/martinacsfeapproject.html )

To learn more please see press relaese at http://www.reclamationproject.net/?TC_Unique_Ecoart

After the exhibit opens, project volunteers will visit public and retail spaces in the tri-county area with mangrove seedlings in hand, asking that they exhibit the seedlings. In the fall of 2009, volunteers will plant these seedlings in coastal areas, reclaiming them for nature. The volunteers organizing the project locally include Osvaldo Monson, Meg Whitmer, Janeen Mason, Linda Fassano and Edie Widder.

The Reclamation Project’s mangrove reforestation and volunteer effort will be implemented through the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA), our local environmental partner. ORCA is dedicated to the protection and restoration of marine ecosystems and the species they sustain through the development of innovative technologies and science based conservation action.

As local project coordinator, ORCA’s Meg Whitmer will bring volunteers together to help implement the project in Florida’s Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties.

For more information on how you can volunteer locally, please contact Meg Whitmer at mwhitmer@teamorca.org or at ORCA’s Walton Scrub located at 10809 South Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, FL. The phone is 772-807-5962.

ABOUT THE ARTS COUNCIL’s ROLE

The Treasure Coast Reclamation Project is sponsored by the Arts Council serving Martin County as part of a broader initiative to establish the treasure coast region as a center for the practice of ecoart. The proposal is for collaboration between the Arts Council and the South Florida Environmental Art Project to organize two related events.

The first is a one-day conference showcasing highly successful ecoart projects and accompanied by the showing of short films and videos. The intention is to offer Martin County audiences an opportunity to learn about the emergence of ecoart as a practice and its importance to the sensitive environment that surrounds us.

The second event proposed is intended to ensue within a couple of months of the first. It is designed as a forum for selected region-resident professional artists interested in pursuing ecoart as a new creative direction.

The Arts Council believes co-sponsorship of these events will help to establish a serious and intellectually challenging discourse in our county about fruitful art-science collaborations that can help engage our communities in responsible environmental stewardship.

Arts Council serving Martin County

Location 80 E Ocean Blvd

Stuart, Florida 34994

Phone 561-287-6676

Fax 561-288-5301

Email mcca@martinarts.org

http://www.martinarts.org/

Arts Council of Stuart and Martin County is sponsored in part by the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Arts Council, City of Stuart and the Martin County Board of County Commissioners.