I had the pleasure of a brief visit to the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this month, where I met with inspiring people like Askia White, pictured here. Askia is working on a home-use energy collector combining systems of rain catchment, gravitational force of flowing water, solar, and wind technologies in one artistic sculpture you can put in your yard. Wow! Wow! Wow!Askia is part of Andrée Singer Thompson's EcoArt Matters class offered through Laney College in Oakland. Some of the extraordinary people in and associated with this course that I met include Alida, Askia, Barbara, Christina, Emily, Isabel, Kathryn, Laura, Molly, Pam, Pat, Susan, Tina (plus the human-sized bee she birthed), Tracy, and others.
Their "ART ROOTS HERE: A recession remedy art exhibit" which runs through June 14th at Big Daddy's Complete Rejuvenating Community Garden in Emeryville (an amazing space curated by Vickie Jo Sowell) is well worth a visit. Here is a 16-image slideshow that admittedly provides more views of the radiant people than the art. You'll just have to go see the show yourself to partake! I'll post again about these artists because they are making RAINSTICKS... soon!
