This post comes to you from Green Public Art
On May 6, 2011, H20: The Art of Conservation, at the Water Conservation Garden, San Diego, CA, will open to the public. Green Public Art reviewed over 1100 artists portfolios before inviting 14 San Diego artists to participate in the exhibition which offers San Diego homeowners an artistic alternative to incorporate water conservation into their own garden spaces. Green Public Art awarded each artist a mini-grant to develop their site-specific sculptures. In the weeks leading up to the exhibition opening the artist’s concepts will be revealed on this site. Questions? Contact Rebecca Ansert, Curator, Green Public Art at rebecca@greenpublicart.com.
CONCEPT: Special Deliveries is a series composed of three sculptures with solar powered mechanical peephole dioramas within. From the exterior each piece presents itself as a rural curbside mailbox mounted to a piece of plastic lumber and planted in a terracotta pot along with some cacti. The interiors feature unique dioramas depicting historic moments in various water reclamation projects of the western states. The viewer looks through a peephole and lowers the flag on the mailbox to activate the scene within. The pieces represent the construction of the Hoover Dam, the accidental creation of the Salton Sea, and the attack on the Los Angeles Aqueduct in Owens Valley.
ABOUT: Matthew Hebert creates work that deals with technology and its effect on the domestic environment and our sense of space. His work takes recognizable furniture forms and layers new forms of use and meaning into them. Ultimately, the work generates new forms of interaction between the object, environment, and the user. Matthew received his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley; and his Master of fine Arts at California College of the Arts. He has taught at several schools including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, CalArts and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is currently Assistant Professor of Furniture at San Diego State University.Â
Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.
Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.