Friday, September 16, 2011

Project AWARE - Riverse

Project AWARE stands for A Watershed Awareness River Expedition.  It is volunteers cleaning up rivers, in this case, Iowa rivers.


Last summer I returned to Iowa for a high school reunion where I learned about Project Aware -Riverse.  I was privileged to experience part of the end results through classmate David Williamson.


My friend the poet, the sculptor, the musician was invited to participate by guiding people to create art through recycling, reusing, and reducing metal waste retrieved from Iowa rivers.  By linking to Riverse, you can see what has been accomplished so far.  Be sure to read some of the collaborative  poetry and song lyrics that have been produced over the last seven years as well.


Several of the sculptures were on display in a gallery in Ames, Iowa where I took several photos, which really do not do them justice.


A waterbug's presence denotes high quality water:

The three fingered glove shows the sign for water:

An Iowa river fish....

Two people can sit inside the drop:

Prototypes for sections of the gates at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa:




Under David's guidance I helped cast a canoe paddle grip that is now a part of the finished gates.



                                                                                David Williamson

4 comments:

  1. What a great artist! You saw this in Iowa! Now I get what Jim was saying about you taking up welding. Go girl. These are stunning pieces, what a show. Hope you enjoyed your reunion.

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  2. Yes, Janie, not only is he an incredible artist, but under his guidance of the volunteers of Project AWARE were these works of art created. The ideas came from them..."we need a waterbug, let's use a paddle, what about this piece of a motor, that misshapen glove actually shows the sign for water...". And ordinary folks, like me, who go to the Iowa State Fair get to participate in making pieces of the gates. David brings and sets up all the materials then involves people in being a part of the creation process. You put on all the stuff...mask, leather apron, heavy duty gloves, et cetera, and do it. And the words...did you read any of the collaborative poems?

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  3. What great artistic creations to get a point across. I wish my hubby would take some of his old collection of stuff laying all over and create something with it. He is the artistic one between us.

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  4. "let's make one thing clear - water". I love it! I couldn't get enough of this. it's so...artistic and fun and fine and creative. and fun. I love that it was made from found objects pulled from rivers. I want to meet this man! he's a national treasure. surely. I'm so happy you visited me at my blog, thanks for that, I truly appreciate it. but I had no idea what I'd find when I scrolled down the page here, and it filled me with joy. pure joy. thank you. happy weekend to you.

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