mnn.com interview with Amy Lipton

On Sunday February 8th, Amy Lipton and
Simon Draper were interviewed on tape by
Mother Nature Network's Chuck Leavell, Director of Environmental Affairs and Michael Lindsay, Multimedia Producer.

MNN.com is a new website that provides environmental news and information, they describe themselves as a "one-stop resource and an everyman's eco-guide offering original programs, articles, blogs, videos, and how-to guides along with breaking news stories." Chuck Leavell, MNN's Director of Environmental Affairs, is a committed environmentalist, and author of Forever Green and The Tree Farmer. He has been the keyboardist for the Rolling Stones since 1972 and was previously a member of the Allman Brothers Band. Leavell has also played with Eric Clapton, The Black Crowes, George Harrison, The Allman Brothers Band, The Indigo Girls, and many, many more.

The interview took place in Beacon, NY at the Van Brunt Gallery where Draper's current collaborative project is on view, Habitat for Artists. Lipton spoke about ecoartspace's mission and history including projects in New York City and the Hudson Valley. She made the point that the modern environmental movement began here more than 40 years ago, when Scenic Hudson was formed as an organization to protest the planned blasting of Storm King Mountain by Con Edison. Scenic Hudson won that battle and continues to fight for land and habitat preservation along the Hudson river and beyond. It is also not a surprise that the Hudson Valley was the birthplace of the first American art movement, The Hudson River School, when 19th century artists made paintings depicting the extravagant beauty of what was then still mostly pristine wilderness - though the encroachment of industry had already begun via the train line. Some of the Hudson River School artists were reacting to environmental degradation in their time and the tradition has held. This early example of the merger between art and conservation has inspired many contemporary proponents of ecological art, and that's where ecoartspace comes into the picture.

Simon Draper also spoke with Leavell and crew, taking them for a stroll in Beacon to see a few of the remaining habitats (outdoor art studios) created by the Habitat for Artists collective last summer (see earlier blog post). HFA will open with a new project at the ecoartspace NYC office on March 5th (more to come).

This meeting was facilitated by Gwendolyn Bounds, author of Little Chapel on the River and Wall Street Journal writer, who also spoke with Lipton and Draper at length about their current joint project. ecoartspace has been the sponsor of HFA activities since summer 2008.

images: Chuck Leavell and Amy Lipton (top), Simon Draper and Gwendolyn Bounds.

Habitat for Artists

This past summer ecoartspace sponsored artist Simon Draper and his Habitat for Artists Project at Spire Studios in Beacon, NY. Several artists living in the Hudson Valley were invited by Draper to participate in this site-specific, collaborative exhibition project. Draper, who has long been working with concepts regarding habitat/shelter in his own art provided each artist with a basic 6ft. by 6ft. shed, to be used as a workspace for the duration of the show, which closed in November.

Ecoartspace’s relationship with Draper evolved from summer 2006, when Amy curated an outdoor exhibition at Abington Art Center’s Sculpture Park in Philadelphia titled Habitat in which Draper participated with his shed “Private Reserve”. This work remains on view and acts as a shelter and contemplative space for the viewer. For Draper, the work also functions as a metaphor for his personal art making activity and provokes larger questions regarding marginal spaces, artists as pioneers in developing neighborhoods and communities and the ongoing migration of artists from these places they helped to nurture and create.

In this new project, Habitat for Artists, the sheds literally functioned as temporary studio spaces. The question becomes, in a time of escalating prices for artist’s workspace and as artists flee Manhattan and Brooklyn in search of more affordable workspace such as in the Hudson Valley region - how much space does an artist need to create their work?

Each artist involved in the project adapted their shed to suit their own needs. The sheds came outfitted with simple openings, doors, windows and skylight. As much as possible, the materials used in the creation of the structures consisted of reclaimed and re-used components. Artists included in the HFA project were Chris Albert, Richard Bruce, Sharon Butler, Kathy Feighery, Marnie Hillsley, Matthew Kinney, Sara Mussen, Steven Rossi, Dar Williams, Grace Knowlton, Matthew Slaats and Simon Draper.

Welsh-born artist Simon Draper has lived and worked in the US since attending Cooper Union in the 80’s. He moved to the Hudson Valley in 1996, where his work has become focused on the humble architecture of the lean-to shed. An endlessly adaptable form, Draper has applied his ingenuity in fashioning them out of surplus and discarded materials—at times, including his own previous work.

On Sept. 9, HFA artist Dar Williams' held a CD release party for her new recording, Promised Land at Spire Studios in Beacon as a fundraiser for several regional non-profits represented at the event including Ecoartspace, Scenic Hudson, The Beacon Institute, Hiddenbrooke, Clara Lou Gould Fund for the Arts, Hudson River Healthcare, Farmworkers Fund and Flying Swine Live Theater. The artwork in the new Promised Land CD booklet was on display for the event, which includes the HFA artists as well as Maureen Beck, Val Clark, Aidan Draper and Grey Zeien. Before singing a few new songs, Dar spoke about the collaborative effort that brought this project together. John Cronin of the Beacon Institute and Erin Riley of Scenic Hudson also spoke about the environmental work their organizations are doing in the Hudson Valley.

Andrew Revkin's recent NY Times blog post:
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/small-car-house-is-beautiful/