Lexington, KY - As the Environmental Commissioner for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government's Department of Environmental Quality, Cheryl Taylor spent much of her time brainstorming on new ways to engage the community in the city's efforts to make Lexington a more sustainable place to live. Taylor, who now works as a production manager for Kentucky-American Water, cites educating the public about environmental issues as "almost an ethical responsibility" - her concern was that traditional educational techniques might not have a lasting impact on the community, particularly on the community's younger generation.
"People learn in different ways. If the only way you try to reach people is through standard methods, then people that learn that way are going to learn something," Taylor said. A mother of six, she added that she has seen firsthand the effects of different learning models on children. "I've seen in my own family that people have different ways of learning, and they absorb things that they experience sometimes better than things they are told," she said.
Drawing inspiration from a couple of city-instituted programs which successfully utilized creative performance to educate school children about issues as diverse as behaving and recycling, the seeds for the Department of Environmental Quality's EcoArt Grant Program were sown; the program launched in mid-2009 through a partnership with LexArts, which helps administer the grants and select the recipients.
Funded by revenues generated from the city's recycling program and open to non-profits, schools and individual artists in Fayette County, the program is designed to utilize the visual and performing arts to educate the community about environmental issues ranging from air and water quality to solar panels and wildlife conservation. The first EcoArt Grant program awarded more than $75,000 to more than 20 individuals and organizations in 2010, with projects including youth performances about tree conservation; brightly painted storm drains intended to attract attention to water contamination issues; and a school cafeteria mural dedicated to education about recycling.
The program was reinstated this year, with recipients of the 2011 EcoArts Grants announced in August and given until July of next year to complete their projects. This year's grant winners include a number of repeat recipients from the 2010 group, including the Living Arts & Science Center, the Chrysalis House, St. Peter and Paul Regional Catholic School and the Lafayette High School Orchestra.
While the majority of this year's 16 grants were awarded to organizations, a handful of individual artists applied for and received the grants. Commercial and fine-arts photographer Mary Rezny, for example, is heading up a project called the EcoBook Challenge, a contest that charges Fayette County residents to create "fine art books" from found and recycled materials. The project will release a call to artists in the coming months and will culminate next summer with a juried exhibit that coincides with Gallery Hop and features up to 30 entries. The grant allows a stipend for the nationally recognized juror (to be announced), as well as cash prizes for the top entries, with separate categories for student (K-12) and adult artists.
"My goal is to take from what we habitually just throw away, and make something new," said Rezny, who was inspired by a book by artist Terry Taylor called "Eco Books: Inventive Projects from the Recycling Bin." Rezny added that she hopes to see "some cherished little treasures that give us a totally new perspective on what we habitually throw into our landfills."
For his second EcoArt Grant project, longtime Lexington artist Robert Morgan will lead a group of Bryan Station High School students in the creation of a collaborative sculpture made from found objects and recycled materials, which will be publicly displayed in the school lobby near the front office. Morgan said he was drawn to Bryan Station in particular due to its high population of low-income and minority students.
"We were supposed to be looking for new audiences (to educate about environmental issues)," he explained. "These issues are popular across households that have time and money to talk about recycling, but in poor houses, you don't think about that - there are too many other issues."
Morgan will meet regularly with students in Bryan Station art and science classes throughout the rest of the year, with lesson plans that range from attaching meaning to "junk" objects around the house, to field trips to the recycling plant to find materials and inspiration.
"The kids are at an age that this experience will carry with them to adulthood, and affect their community in the process," said Morgan, who added that the teachers at Bryan Station have been more than supportive of his efforts to engage their students in this project. "They understand that the important thing is to get these kids interested in you and your art - to get them excited about anything."