Sunday, July 18, 2010

Beverly Naidus and the Beall

I recently had the pleasure of traveling by bicycle and ferry to see Beverly Naidus, shown here, eco-artist, professor, and author of several books including Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame, at her home on Vashon Island in the Puget Sound near Seattle.

Beverly has begun a new, multi-faceted work called "Eden Reframed: An Eco-art Project for the Beall Greenhouses" in partnership with local non-profit SEEDS and other community members.

After a refreshing salad of greens I picked from her garden, graced with a handful of raspberries and toasted filberts, in other words, nirvana, Beverly took me on a tour of the Beall property, which held commercial greenhouses for many generations, as this 11-image slideshow reveals. The precise site for the project is featured in several slides -- watch for a pile of rubbish in the brush.

The soil at the Beall is contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic and lead, most of which arrived by way of a formerly functioning Asarco smelter. There is also pesticide and petroleum contamination, making remediation additionally challenging.

Artists have gravitated to the Beall for many years, yet this project is unique. Combining sculpture, ritual, video, oral history, permaculture and more, collaborators will work together to heal this land and reclaim it within the community. Utterly inspiring, thank you, Beverly!

Please visit Beverly's Eden Reframed: An Ecoart Project blog for more photos and updates.

BEAUTY OF WATER WEBSITE