Artists and Gardens: A Growing Concern
Schmidt is an articulate member of a new tribe of socially engaged artists who are committed to cultivating community gardens and urban agricultural plots as works of public art. Their creative roots extend into a number of postmodern movements, from Fluxus and earth art to relational aesthetics and new genre public art, and their role is often to co-ordinate and facilitate rather than manufacture and lecture. Excerpt from Robin Laurence’s article in Canadian Art on-line, “Artists and Gardens: A Growing Concern.” November, 2011.
The Straight: Two Urban Agriculture Projects
In collaboration with other groups and individuals, Grow cultivates a wide array of vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers in reclaimed and repurposed containers, all sitting on recycled wooden shipping pallets. At the same time, it sponsors walks and workshops, and—against a backdrop of high-end condos and the nonconsultative hideosity that is B.C. Place—promotes dialogue around issues of “sustainability, food security, and collective initiatives in urban areas,” — excerpt from Robin Laurence article Two urban agriculture projects bring art to Vancouver’s gardens, Vancouver Straight
Grow Launch
Grow: May 1 – November 30 2011
Lead Artist: Holly Schmidt
Other Sights for Artist’s Projects is pleased to present Grow, a public art project that acts as a public forum, teaching tool and creative laboratory for ecological and social sustainability practices in South East False Creek (SEFC), Vancouver, Canada.
Located in Vancouver’s “greenest development”, the Olympic Village, Grow explores sustainability issues through a series of walks, workshops and creative experiments in urban agriculture. Walks led by artist, Holly Schmidt and invited guests from architecture; design and the humanities focus on the challenges faced by rapidly growing and changing cities. Workshops invite people to imagine new possibilities for agriculture in the city through inventive prototype building to support the production of food in the urban environment.
