With escalating changes to weather patterns that forebode a future landscape alternately turned to deserts and/or underwater due to sea-level rise, it poses a question in the mind of many: What can I do to affect change?
Many months ago, Mattapoisett Library Director Jennifer Jones reached out to the community after learning of a new climate-centric program and book titled “Regeneration – Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation” by Paul Hawken.
Jones applied for and received a grant from the Richard & Ann J. Prouty Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Co-Trustee, to fund a sustainability initiative for the library. Jones told us at that time, “I thought it would be suitable because climate change is an important topic of “interest for this area.”
The group has continued to meet after completing discussions on a variety of topics guided by Hawken’s publication. Topics such as the impact of factory farms, fossil fuels, food waste and recycling were discussed. On this last point, local recycling initiatives were noted such as the First Congregational Church’s effort to collect 500 pounds of plastic shopping bags, material that was bound for recycling.
Through discussion, the group found common ground in wanting to bring these global concerns down to the local level and there, explore ways to make meaningful contributions towards sustainable lifestyles.
Enter art. Where others may tread lightly, artists are innately willing to explore, including artistic expression through nontraditional works. And so the group embarked on a journey of how to turn discarded synthetic materials into art, and Jones invited the larger community to participate.
On August 27, an exhibit of art crafted by an intergenerational group was opened to the public. On display was a jellyfish from gift ribbons, spice and herb shaker tops organized like a universe of the imagination, a bust of a female figure with braids created from plastic bags and tie-wraps, a deconstructed cookbook cut in strips and woven together in new text layouts and fabric swatches reorganized and reimagined as unintentional visual glories.
Jones said that while some pieces were from found objects, objects not necessarily manmade but discarded and then found by a creative person, most were crafted from items used in everyday life such as plastic bags.
This art exhibit was an opportunity to share with the community in a fun way, the climate issues facing all people everywhere in the hope that even small groups and towns can find important ways to help sustain our world and engage others on the need to talk about difficult themes, namely the sustainability of our planet – Earth.
The artists were Phoebe Girard, Dave Meyers, Chuck McIntire, Marianne DeVaux, Judy Morgan, John Middleton, Barbara VanInwegen, Paul Duffy, Helen Lozoraitis, Marty Smith and Jones.
Contact Jones at jjones@mattapoisett.net for more information on the group discussions, which are ongoing.