RIVERS RUN THROUGH US
photos: bobbe besold
RIVERS RUN THROUGH US (see full project description, below)
The project now has a website!--www.riversrunthroughus.net
MEET US AT THE SANTA FE RIVER!
WHAT: In May of 2012, a small group of women will walk the length of the Santa Fe River. The project, Rivers Run Through Us, is meant to honor and celebrate the river, bring the community together, and encourage restoration efforts. Please MEET US AT THE RIVER by creating and presenting these or other activities along the riverbank:
· Native species planting · Dance · Erosion control projects · Poetry about water, the river · Invasive species removal · Music/Song · Bank stabilization projects · Storytelling · Litter pick-up · Aquatic habitat creation · Riverbank sculpture · Native fish reintroduction · Visual art · River blessings · Video capture · Chalk drawings on the river trail · Water testing · Story-gathering · Rainwater harvesting techniques · Theater pieces
Other ideas: you might create large cutouts of native fish and birds and carry them (in “schools” and “flocks”) on sticks along the banks as we walk, write wishes on strips of fabric and tie them to willows planted on the river, carry water to the river and pour it on newly planted trees, or join a community river choir (contact info@littleglobe.org) at San Ysidro Crossing. Or simple meet us at the river to say hello.
WHEN: May 17-20, 2012, along the Santa Fe River, from Lake Peak to Cochiti Pueblo. The project team will walk through the city of Santa Fe on Friday, May 18th and Saturday, May 19.
WHERE: There are many spots along the river that are open for public access. Be sure to get permission to host activities at privately-owned points along the riverbank. Here is the schedule for the May 18 & May 19 walk in Santa Fe—show up at the river and we will meet you here:
Friday, May 18: 9 a.m. Audubon Center; 10 a.m. Water History Museum; 11:30 Alameda/Paseo de Peralta (NM School for the Arts); 12:30 Guadalupe/E. Alameda; 1-2:30 W. Alameda between St. Francis and Camino Alire; 4:30 and overnight, Frenchy’s Field.
Saturday, May 19th: 10-11 a.m. San Ysidro Crossing (Open Community Choir Performance—everyone is welcome), 11:30 a.m.
Airport Rd.
CONTACT: For more information about the “Rivers Run Through Us” project or for a visit from the project team, please contact: Bobbe (bobbebird@gmail.com), Dominique (heartistdm@aol.com) and/or Valerie (valerie@littleglobe.org). Learn more about the project at www.littleglobe.org/rivers-run-through-us
The RIVERS RUN THROUGH US Project
“In those days the Santa Fe River ran and sang. It’s true, you ask, staring at the empty bed,
dust rising at the end of Avenida Cristobal Colon. There was water? Now, we dream of blue
winding blue way….”*
From May 17-20, 2012, a small group of women will walk the Santa Fe River. This four-day journey will serve as a deep exploration of our river and the Santa Fe Watershed and is designed to create art, promote awareness, engage community, and illuminate our relationship with river systems, earth and water.
In 2007, American Rivers designated the Santa Fe River as the most endangered in the United States. Local environmental groups, concerned citizens, river enthusiasts and environmental artists along with the county and City of Santa Fe have worked to bring her back. These efforts must continue.
The Rivers Run Through Us project hopes to bring life to our river and to our communities through the act of walking, carrying water from the headwaters to the Rio Grande, and riverbank activities that communicate hope and possibility. As we walk, we will encounter singing, music, poetry and art as well as conservation and restoration projects, and more.
We will also conduct and record interviews, capture the sounds of the river, take photos and video, and write poetry and daily accounts. These will be posted on the “Rivers Run Through Us” website where you can track us along the way and experience the journey, wherever you are.
After the walk we will create an interactive, virtual website where everyone can experience the river as a living system and an integral part of our identity: her history, reality, beauty, the interconnection and interdependence of our communities, and the delicate balance of forces that affect the rivers vitality, and ours.
In the months before the walk, we are working with community members, neighborhoods along the river, school groups, churches, environmental organizations, city and county entities and other individuals and organizations who are invited to meet us along the way—creating and presenting art, science activities and conservation/restoration projects.
United in our passion for the river and water, we are Bobbe Besold and Dominique Mazeaud, two environmental artists, along with Valerie Martínez, poet and collaborative artist and former Poet Laureate for the City of Santa Fe. We are a gathering of voices for the river: artists, environmentalists, scientists, poets, and river-lovers, working to connect people to the river and to each other.
Our current sponsoring organizations are WildEarth Guardians, The Santa Fe Watershed Association, Littleglobe, the Santa Fe Art Institute, and the Western Hardrock Watershed Team. We invite other organizations to partner with us as the project unfolds. To participate, see below and/or contact us a bobbebird@gmail.com, valerie@littleglobe.org, heartistdm@aol.com.
*excerpt from “Blue Winding, Blue Way” by Valerie Martínez
from And They Called It Horizon: Santa Fe Poems, Sunstone Press 2010
PROJECT EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
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SCHOOLS/EDUCATION--river art, science and restoration projects: Santa Fe Girls School, Dragonfly School, Waldorf School, SFIS, Atalaya School, Acequia Madre, Salazar, Santa Fe School for the Arts and many others. We are also developing river projects for school groups in collaboration with the Santa Fe Art Institute.
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Saturday, March 31 Willow Wishes Workshop (Santa Fe Railyard Complex, in collaboration with WildEarth Guardians): art, science and restoration workshop culminating in the planting of 30 willows ( tied with wishes for water and the Santa Fe River) along the river. Additional restoration projects will continue through April and May. Coordination with the Santa Fe River Trail opening ceremonies—community events.
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COLLABORATIONS (before and during the walk): All Species Day (with Wise Fool)--puppets and performers at various sites along the river. As we walk a Littleglobe Choir will perform original river songs by Molly Sturges at San Isidro Crossing. Poets, artists, musicians, performers and members of the community will participate by performing and presenting River Art as we walk through Santa Fe.
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WALK WEBSITE: The walk website will feature real-time GPS tracking of the women on their journey; a short video of each day of the walk posted the morning after; photos and audio of the river and riverbank activities; a blog with hourly/daily accounts written by the women, telling a “river story; and photos uploaded by the public over the four days. The website will serve as real-time documentation of the walk and all related community activities.
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RIVERSITE/INTERACTIVE WEBSITE: after the walk, the team will coordinate efforts toward building and interactive website (“riversite”) entirely focused on the Santa Fe River Watershed. This is will be an open use website depicting a holistic view/perspective of the Santa Fe River (ecosystem, communities, uses, challenges). The site will also include community postings of events about and for the river and our watershed.
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ORAL HISTORY: audio recordings of river stories recorded before, during and after the walk, to be aired on public radio and available for downloading on the riversite.
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DOCUMENTARY FILMS: about the walk, the people who engage along the banks and, most importantly, the river itself.
PROJECT IMPACT AND OUTCOMES
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Increased awareness and knowledge about the Santa Fe River and our river communities, especially among young people and families
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Increased knowledge and awareness about water conservation, river systems, rehabilitation.
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Increased awareness and understanding of upstream and downstream use--interconnected and interdependent systems--how we are a part of a magnificent and essential whole.
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Increased communication and communication systems around the Santa Fe River and water.
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Increased social cohesion around the meaning of the Santa Fe River that will encourage more unified community action on behalf of water use and the river.
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A body of writing, video, photography, audio, oral histories and art that will catalyze interest in the Santa Fe River watershed, communicate its beauty, document its importance in our daily lives, and advocate for restoration projects and wiser community water use.
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An interactive Santa Fe “Riversite” which will encourage a holistic understanding of the communities and factors that both depend on and effect the watershed (and all river systems), engage visitors, and promote coordinated restoration/rehabilitation efforts while evoking an artistic portrait of the river’s beauty.
“Imagine a stream, a river, your river, the Santa Fe River, the Rio Grande. Then imagine a country of rivers, nations of rivers, the global network of rivers. Soon, you’ll see a diamond web stretching over the Earth---a blood stream---her life, and ours. You and I can stand beside and walk in one of these streams, one of these rivers, where we become one with the life of the Earth—the land, the water, ourselves. What a privilege.”
--Dominique Mazeaud