Blog
2019 was an amazing year for Artichoke Dance. We reached over 5000 people with our performances, workshops and engagements, made our west coast debut, and saw significant pay off in or plastic bag efforts with the passing of legislation in New York State. Dance activism works! We couldn’t have done it with out you. Find out how our work is making a difference, take a sneak peak at 2020, and please support us with a year-end contribution.
The arts and artists provide creative options to problems that often times have otherwise prescriptive solutions, which might not make the most sense in the future. I call this a failure of imagination, and while none of us can predict the future with absolute certainty, we can, and need to, think forward and holistically. Here I talk about this in relation to developments of Future Currents: The LA River, a project in development.
I was recently in Los Angeles scouting sites for an upcoming project along the LA River. My last stop was Golden Shore Marine Biological Reserve to participate in Friends of the Los Angeles River’s annual clean up. While the majority of volunteers collecting debris gathered on the protected wetland side; I opted for the rocky terrain running along the river. Scaling down the rocks toward the water, I stopped at a sizeable gap, crouched down and began to collect piece after piece of Styrofoam. The more I dug the more was exposed. Quickly a quandary arose, do I go for large handfuls and include the natural debris (leaves, reeds and sticks) the Styrofoam is intertwined in? Do I just go after larger pieces? I spent about 20 minutes at this one 12x12 inch nook and, minus a fairly intact cup, a few straws and a Visine bottle, I seemingly did not make a dent here.
