FOOTPRINTS EXHIBITION June 14-26 Roundhouse Community Centre Exhibition Hall The Footprints Exhibition explores themes of ecological sustainability through the visionary works of professional artists, designers, ceramic artists, Capilano College Film students, children and you! Paintings, maquettes, installation, video, sculpture, and interactive artworks will engage the viewer in a multi-sensory experience and encourage serious reflection on our shared environment and future. Participating artists include Connie Sabo, Lynda Eustace, Eva Hoenig, Haruko Okano, among many others. Workshops in performing arts, medicine wheels, footprint stencils, and making a communal mask will also take place during the exhibition. The exhibition features The Water Filter Project – an example of how artists can contribute to a sustainable world. Vancouver potters and clay artists have been learning about exciting new uses for ceramic technology that makes clean water readily available to families in marginalized communities who draw their water from surface-influenced, contaminated sources. In this exhibit see water filters and original water containers which will be auctioned off with the proceeds donated to Potters for Peace, a unique NGO whose aim is to provide socially responsible assistance to pottery groups and individuals in underdeveloped countries to help meet the urgent demand for clean water.   Artist and submission descriptions The Water Filter Project Helen Spaxman, Sheila Jahrus, Martha Barker, Charmian Nimmo, Susan Marczak, Carol Bullen, Sue Griese, Jenny Ross, Melissa Searcy, Shirley Inouye, Megan Carroll, Maria Tomsich, Keith Lehman & Cindy Morrison Vancouver potters and clay artists have been learning about exciting new uses for ceramic technology - ceramic water filters. These filters make clean water readily available to families in marginalized communities who draw their water from surface-influenced, contaminated sources. Many of these clay artists have generously contributed their expertise and time to take part in a unique exhibit entitled Footprints, which is being mounted in conjunction with the World Urban Forum.   Lynda Eustace – Entry with James Cochrane, Guido Rosas, Eva Hoenig, Simian Catalin and The Film Students of Capilano College A bank of television screens embedded in branches and driftwood, each featuring a different video-take on the natural world, surround viewers in an intimate space in the city. This is an invitation to immerse in reflections on urban man, our place on the planet and the awe-inspiring perfection of the natural world. Eight to ten videos of varying length will be playing concurrently with a sound installation within a hut-like wooden sculpture at the Roundhouse's Exhibition Hall. As a part of the exhibit, “Footprints”, open from June 14 th to 26 th , 2006, “Entry” invites the public and World Urban Forum participants from over 60 countries to experience and consider the natural world as we witness the transition of human population into the ‘urban era', where over 50% of us now live in cities. Outside of the installation, viewers will be invited further, to respond to “Entry” by writing, drawing, contacting local politicians or offering advice and ideas, in situ, to UN delegates as they wrestle with a response to the situation within their own urban settings. Vicki Moulder – Cellular Narration Cellular Narration is a utopian model for the design of both a software application and event over broadcasting and communications networks with the purpose of encouraging collaborative authorship and to amplify people's thoughts of “hope”. The artists believes that “HOPE” above all sparks the possibility of transformation, inspires us to change and gives us faith that we can work together to create a sustainable world. Bert Monterona Bert Monterona's artwork examines the future, rediscovers the past, and focuses on complex challenges in order to forge a link between cultures, places, times and events. The paintings in this exhibition encompass the indigenous idiom, in the artist's style of using an intoxicating mix of colour, figures, symbols, motifs and details. The message is that life as experienced is one of travail and struggle, which may distort the human spirit and ordinary people who in their innocence are vulnerable to the intricacies of life. Georgina Lohan Georgina Lohan's painting in this exhibition, Paradise , is a beautiful and ethereal mixed media depiction of a young child. Children, she says, are one of our greatest resources for the future, and it is these future generations that will not only bear the brunt of a lack of sustainability in society's practices of past and present, but will be shaping the future of the children they may have. These images are a metaphor for hope and the beginning of new things. Shannon Harvey – Bag Habit “Bag habit” is about our unsustainable consumption symbolized by the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag. It is a project consisting of gathering used plastic bags and sewing them into a very large plastic bag, composed of over 250 smaller bags. Shannon Harvey is a mixed media artist whose work explores the presence of the sacred in our every day lives. Haruko Okano – Arboretum Arborescence Arboretum Arboresence is an organic and astounding artpiece that consists of a number of large flues that are suspended and clustered together. In the center of the main flue is an hourglass, its sand spent as though time has stopped. The flues are made of different colours of voile pierced through with thousands of pine needles that have been gathered over a period of two years from different locations in Vancouver . Haruko Okano has been creating art for over three decades, and has received many awards and grants for her work. Shaun Smakal – Interface Interface is a complex and sustainable design for the development of the Gastown waterfront. It is a comprehensive design to transform an industrial site into a sustainable vision for the future. Shaun Smakal is presently a Master's of Landscape Architecture candidate at UBC. This project is his graduate thesis represents nine years of post-graduate education, experiences, and knowledge. Trinity Forbes This unique work consists of layers of soil, clay, and rocks, as well as shreds of garbage and newspaper, layered within a plexiglass display case. Within the layers will include readable excerpts from Envionment Canada 's Sustainable Development Strategy. This piece speaks not only of the environment and Canada 's sustainability efforts but it also expresses the importance of information and knowledge regarding these issues.     Home | Exhibition | Public Workshops | Water Filter Project | Public Dialogue | Nat Aboriginal Day | Contributing Artists | Media