Free Air Samples! Free Plants!

On Friday the lovely, Kate and I set up shop just inside the entrance to the library. I was giving out free samples of imported air from the cleanest, freshest places in the world! and taking orders for more of it. We had air from the untouched Antarctic, tropical Samoa, freshy fresh Patagonia, and crispy New Zealand. We invited everyone to unscrew a sample container and inhale the freshness. Oh, it was fresh. New Zealand air was quite popular, and we ran out of that first.

Some took the little jars to go, someone asked us if they should put it in their fridge? Most looked at us skeptically or with great curiosity or great confusion. haha. Quite a few people asked us if this had anything to do with a scene from Space Balls? Which I hadn't heard of until now, but just before the sale I learned about air sales from the movie The Lorax, and the idea is similar. I told people that we were trying to bring fresh air back to Cache Valley, especially during the winter months. Someone looked at me and said, "couldn't we just drive less?" Exactly. We aren't really "selling clean air," but our air here isn't clean. We don't drink dirty water, but there's a huge industry for bottled water now, and when bottled water first came out, that seemed like a totally crazy idea. The point is that we could end up having to sell clean air, or we could all try to do our part and avoid that. The latter would be nice! I started looking online to see if this had been done before, and it has! In Beijing, China, a millionaire philanthropist starting giving out and selling cans of Fresh Air! Another artist from Beijing auctioned off a jar of air from Provence, France for $860! All of this was done to encourage the government to get serious about the poor air quality. Check out photos of an event where fresh mountain air was brought to citizens in bags. Now bottled air is being sold at tourist sites. When I first thought of trying to sell clean air, I thought it was a totally nonsensical notion, turns out in some places it's already becoming a reality. 

After giving out some air, Kate offered an even better solution - natural air purifiers, aka Plants! She gave out wildflower seeds that were native to the area and that that attracted pollinators. Along with that she gave out compressed dirt (expands with water) and little decomposable pots that can be planted directly into the earth. Oh yeah, we even repurposed the used sample containers to hold wildflower seeds. 

Thus, everyone walked away with a little wildflower starter kit, and hopefully these can start spotting Logan with some color and air purity! yeah! Everyone seemed excited to get their new plants and start growing, and it was cool to give out something that can be part of the solution. 

It's been fun trying out the conceptual side of things as far as art goes, and really trying to help people rethink air quality. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to check it out! We had a great time. 

It's Important Because...

Check out Paige's finished project! After taking pictures of student's responses to her open-ended-white-board-statement she put them up in a big old collage. Go by the Quadside Cafe (connected to the library) to check it out. 

Some detail shots...

Clean Air For Sale!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our clean air sale today! Kate and I stationed ourselves in the entrance of the library and offered samples of free air from exotic locations, and free plants. We had air from Antarctica, Samoa, Patagonia, and New Zealand - some of the freshest air in the world! Some people seemed a little skeptical of our imported air, and we'll post more info pertaining to that query in the next day or so! We also got to give out cool starter plants for native wild flowers and Paige's photography project went up today. Thanks USU and USU Library for making it a great day. Check back soon for more on all of these sweet events.

Yesterday I blocked a window in the fine arts building with paper and added an invitation for all to make their own peep holes. Feel free to have at it of you happen to pass by! This piece reflects the filter of smog that we get in the winter when our air is polluted- it really blocks the view - but doing things that help keep the air clean, such as reducing driving etc in a way could make "peep holes" through the bad air. Little things make change. This morning I came back to a few changes!

Things are clearing up already! I'm interested to see how many people will be brave enough to start making their own holes. 

Works in Progress

Here we see the lovely Paige kicking out her project on the TSC Patio at USU! She's offering students the chance to write down why they love clean air on a whiteboard, and get their picture taken with the sign. She's planning to make a collage of all the pics when she's finished! Oh, and there's also free candy to be had! There's an upcoming chance to check it out on Friday if you're bopping around!

Boys and Girls Club

This week we ventured to the Boys and Girls Club at the Bear River Charter School in Logan. Kate led the students in some awesome and environmental art projects! Everyone wrote down and drew pictures of things that they could do to help the air stay clearer during inversions. There were some awesome ideas!

Next, the children made paper models of particulates. They put Vaseline on these and will hang them outside. Over the course of the next week the design will capture air pollution and the kids will be able to have a visual of what the bad air looks like. 

Thank you to the Boys and Girls Club for letting us come today, and thank you for your great participation! The earth will be in good hands. 

Finito!

I present to you the finished project! Colored by many helping hands. Thank you to everyone who participated! The final coloring was done on Wednesday, January 29. It only took 7 days to fill in 64 square feet of paper. I believe it would have been faster, but by the end of it, people were having a hard time accessing the very top and bottom of the color by numbers - to reach the top required very long arms or a chair to stand on, and coloring the very low portions presented difficult coloring angles. I am so grateful for all the people who helped make this a success. It's true that if everyone does a little bit, a lot can be accomplished. Let's keep it fresh and clear the air!

Also in air news check out what went down in SLC - a group of 4,000 protesters met at the state capitol for a clean air rally. They pushed for legislation to make changes so that the government will take an active role in reducing air pollution. These people mean action. Check it out here.

The Making Of- and other FAQs

I first designed the color by numbers using Adobe Illustrator. This took a long time. A really long time. A lot longer than I ever imagined it taking! I'm guessing I spent about 18-20 hours working on the design alone. I started out with a crude structure and refined it as I went along. On a separate layer, I blocked out the main areas in basic colors.

I chose 17 of the 24 colors found in the Crayola 24 Pack and assigned them each a number. I then worked block by block, breaking up the space with lines and adding the numbers.
Once we had finished our design we had it printed by Kinkos in the FedEx Store. The design needed to be 8 ft x 8 ft, however 3 ft is the widest they can go on prints. Andy separated the project file into three sections and it was printed off that way.

Next we cut a few blank margins off the paper with exacto knives and used spray adhesive to mount the paper onto Particle Board from the Home Depot. 

When we finished, we laid the particle boards on top of a cart and rolled them over to the library.

We set it up! The next day we brought over the crayons and color keys and watched the project unfold.

Ta-Da!

Day 3 Update - Lungs, Professional Colorists, and Every Little Bit Helps

Wow! I've been so stoked over the last three days to see this project take shape! There has been a great involvement from everyone in random acts of coloring. Thanks to every passerby, the piece is almost completely filled in. You are probably starting to see the design taking shape - and yes - it is a pair of lungs! Those black and gray shapes floating around inside them represent the harmful PM 2.5 particles that are polluting our air in Cache Valley. These particles are dangerous because they are so small and able to move right into our lungs, and stay. This can have all kinds of side effects like coughing and wheezing to developing lung cancer. Read more here. These are exactly the kinds of issues we'll be talking about and looking into with the Art For Air project.

The poor air quality is especially dangerous for young children - a lot of kids don't get to go outside for recess anymore! (Especially considering that last week we had the worst air in the NATION-woof). So to really get things done, on Friday, we brought in the professionals - a second grade glass from Edith Bowen Elementary. Not only are they learning to be environmentally conscious and to do their part- they are professionals when it comes to coloring. The school is located right on campus, and this brave class came over to help- some of them even brought their own crayons. Since the boards were so tall, we tipped them on their sides. 4-6 kids lined each board and they went for it!

Never underestimate the coloring skills of children, its pretty amazing. They got a LOT done!

Every little bit helps in filling in this color by numbers. If I tried to do the whole thing myself, it would take way, way to long. Most people are busy, and in life it's hard to stop- but I have loved watching people walk by, double take, grab a crayon, fill in a number, and keep moving. In the end, every single shape that was colored will have made a difference. I think its like that with air quality. If I tried to solve the problem myself, I wouldn't make much of a difference, but if everybody did one small thing every week, that could make a difference. If all of us tried to carpool one day, or take the bus one day, or consolidated our errand-running...that could equate into one big breath of fresh air.

More links about PM 2.5 particles
EPA
AIRNow

Color By Numbers!

People! People! Our first project is up! This morning, January 23, 2014, was the great unveiling. As part of Arts Week, we joined in the great wave of installations that are spotting the campus. Find us in the hallway that connect the main entrance of the USU Library to the Quadside Cafe. There you will find the biggest color by numbers you have ever seen. You will also find crayons and an invitation for you to color. Color all you want. Bring friends, lovers, or foreign exchange students. Coloring is therapeutic, and always a good time! The image may be entirely unrecognizable now, but with your help, it will become clear.


17 different colors. This is what lies before us:

What is this all about?

In December, Andy Bayles (my husband), Kate Gourley, Paige Gardner, and I were the excited recipients of $1,400 grant from the Sustainability Council at Utah State University. Here in Logan, Utah, we have some of the worst air in the nation during the winter months. This is mainly due to cold temperatures creating inversions and trapping hazardous particles in the air. The grant is an opportunity for students to gain funds to work on projects to find solutions. The four of us who applied for the grant are art majors or minors and firmly believe in the powers of art to inform, motivate, and create change- and so we proposed to do a series of public and interactive artwork around the USU Campus about the air quality issues in Cache Valley. I was delighted when I found out that our project received funding. We hope to bring attention to the issues at hand and inform and encourage others to take action. There are many simple things we could each to do to make the air a little better, and a lot of little betters could make a big difference. Much more to come! I can't wait to show you what we have up our sleeves (and since Andy has such long arms, you can only imagine the amount of great stuff we have planned). Art, ideas, interesting facts, ways to contribute...stay with us!