Art to Change the World

Back to Events Page

You are reading an ACW Project Page which serves as an historical record, a staging location for participant organizational data, and finally, a site for interested readers to review project survey analysis.

Creating Interactive & Educational Artwork from the Mississippi River’s Trash

The Mississippi Watershed and Management Organization Stewardship Fund Program grant supported 11 people selected from the larger MWMO neighborhood population, to meet, collect trash along the Mississippi and participate in an immersive curriculum unit which was collaboratively developed by project manager, Barbara Bridges, and the participants themselves.

Mississippi River Pearl

Come and visit us at our next event! Open all 21 drawers! Take a memento and research card or two. Sit on the throne, meditate and snap a photo. Post on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok using #ArtToChangeTheWorld and #MississippiRiverPearl. Send us that photo! Leave us your impressions in the survey drawer for a chance to win an ACW t-shirt!

Barbara’s artform focuses on re-cycle, re-purpose and create. All participants collaboratively designed and created this elegant artwork using the debris and other natural objects.

All participants created this elegant artwork using the found river debris and other hand constructed and found objects. With one of the goals being to educate people about the plastics we find on our waterways, they repurposed objects with a history to create a new narrative. Paper was made by Alexis from the debris collected. The quilted seat was commissioned from ACW quiltmaker, Lucy Schroepfer out of fabric found along the river.

John Olson, from River Keepers, helped us forage on the west side of the river in his electric pontoon. The project participants met eight times in September and October. Many Thanks to John Olson and River Keepers for a boat ride on Trash Pick Up day.

Congrats to the following leaders of the MWMO project: Barbara Bridges Project Manager. Frances Bates, Amáda Márquez Simula, Greg Volker, Margo Ashmore, Annie Merrell, Neil Granlund, Katherine Boyce, Alexis Schramel, Kelly Frankenberg, Sadie Ward.

All participants will be encouraged to design, lead and implement their own environmental project going forward.

Listen to our polymer scientist, Neil Granlund, talk about what we found in our beloved Mississippi River.