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3. River Dialogues and the Monongahela Conference. The 3 Rivers 2nd Nature Outreach effort is primarily defined by "River Dialogue" events. These are citizen-expert programs where ideas and the concepts about rivers and their recreational uses are discussed during tours, then recorded during charrettes. These programs have resulted in a "River Trail" report, a concept plan that provides the first steps, the ideas that will nurture the development of a regional water trail. The next step in that development will be for citizens to work with the local environmental organizations, communities, and decision makers who have taken an interest in this process; criticizing, clarifying and making these concepts clearer. Then, with funding, a design team can be assembled to create a plan that can help establish recreational use and its advocacy as a major element of our regional rivers. This is a project that was taken on in partnership with Friends of the Riverfront and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. The Monongahela Conferences (I - 2003, II - 2004, and III - 2005) were developed as an evolving public-realm counterpoint to the Allegheny Conference. Where the Allegheny Conference focuses on growth in the regions economy, the Monongahela Conference has focused on the regions public realm and its attendant ecosystems through art. These programs were intended to reveal the artists/designers role in the restoration and celebration of nature in shared places. The program evolved from an initial conference (October 2003) with 24 international attendees discussing the role of artists in a post-industrial setting to a month-long residency program in 2004 that will result in projects and an exhibition in 2005. The work of the first conference is documented at http://moncon.greenmuseum.org/. The second program (June 2004) was a month long series of residencies and public programs entitled "The Monongahela Conference II, on Post-Industrial Community Development: Art, Ecology and Planning with People Influencing Public Places We Care About." We identified seven outside artists and brought them into the region to work alongside five artists that live in Western PA. The artists chosen were known to be able to work within constraints, they all had an interest and ability to work in a discursive/planning manner and had previously produced a range of effective products. This program was planned at two levels. First it was an assembly of like-minded art professionals who have sought an opportunity for serious discourse about theory and practice. Secondly, it placed sophisticated social-sculpture and ecological-art practitioners in relationship to the neediest and most intransigent urban centers in Western Pennsylvania, with a simple charge to initiate change. Participants were encouraged to make art works, designs, performance, and future plans with communities. As of spring 2005 the results are still evolving, a foundation has contacted one group for further work and a non-profit activist group has adopted another, providing support for conference presentations and the possibility of further funding. The final program (fall 2005) is entitled "GROUNDWORKS - Environmental Collaboration in Contemporary Art." The exhibition is scheduled for October 14 to November 11, 2005 in the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University. The exhibition will include a catalog and (the third) Monongahela Conference. The exhibition will present the work of the 3 Rivers 2nd Nature team alongside the colleagues from the June 2004 residencies as well as practitioners from Austria, England, Germany, India, and Japan who are working on environmental issues in cities at a planning scale. The exhibition is curated and developed by Grant Kester of the University of San Diego, working with Jenny Strayer, Director of the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University. See the current exhibition and conference information http://3r2n.cfa.cmu.edu/groundworks The 3 Rivers 2 nd Nature project came to a close in 2005. For more information on current or future projects contact:
STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon University ph 412-268-3673 Water trails are similar to bike trails in that they contain access to places of interest, communities and natural places, and are open to all types of users. Water trails are used by boat owners, nature enthusiasts, weekend recreationalists and tourists. The Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliates (Pittsburgh Regional Alliance; Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce; and Pennsylvania Economy League-Western Division) are working in collaboration to stimulate growth in southwestern Pennsylvania's economy and improve its quality of life. |
Each society and its related means of production create a specific kind of physical space.
-Henri Lefebvre
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