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For Immediate Release
March 5, 2009
Clearwater Awarded Grant from Dutchess County Arts Council
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Americas flagship
environmental organization was awarded a Year 2009 Project Grant from
the Dutchess County Arts Council yesterday. The grant, which totals
$1,230, will go toward creating a unique public art project called
Reviving the Fall Kill: Creating Treasure from Trash that Jennifer
Rubbo, Fall Kill Watershed Coordinator at Clearwater, and Rachel Collet,
a Tivoli, New York based artist, are collaborating on with the help of a
number of volunteers.
Thanks to the grant from the Dutchess County Arts Council, Clearwater
will work with volunteers made up of youth, residents and community
groups from the City of Poughkeepsie to clean up the glass that
presently litters the Fall Kill Creek on Saturday, April 25 (rain date:
May 2). The volunteers will also assist Collet, primarily a fine arts
painter whose work has been exhibited at the New York State Museum in
Albany, in cleaning all the glass found in the creek and prepare it for
the final artworkan expressionistic cube illuminated from within that
filters light through special panes containing the glass salvaged from
the Fall Kill.
The Fall Kill Creek, a direct tributary of the Hudson River, has been
plagued by illegal littering and dumping for decades. The creek flows
through the City of Poughkeepsie and is full of high quantities of
broken glass, along with other trash, in its channel. Reviving the Fall
Kill: Creating Treasure from Trash will help remove some of the
hazardous glass and garbage from the creek while bringing attention to
the problem and giving participants in the project a sense of ownership
of our water resources during an educational, hands-on learning
experience.
My hope is that this project will give city youth and community members
a first hand look at the trash problem that exists in the Fall Kill,
provide them with an opportunity to rectify it and allow them to
participate in the creation of a piece of art that will teach others
about what they have learned, said Rubbo, who has been working with the
Fall Kill Watershed Committee, a coalition of local water resource
professionals, cultural and social community organizations, and active
individuals to protect and revitalize this historic Dutchess County
creek.
Reviving the Fall Kill: Creating Treasure from Trash will be installed
outside the Mid-Hudson Childrens Museum, located in Poughkeepsie at the
mouth of the Fall Kill, in May 2009. An unveiling ceremony is scheduled
to take place on July 11, 2009 in conjunction with Fall Kill Creek Week.
This project is made possible (in part) through a grant from the
Dutchess County Arts Council, administrator of public funds through
NYSCAs Decentralization Program. Rubbo said she is still hoping to find
some sponsors to support the project and defray costs. Those wanting to
volunteer on this project can email Rubbo
(jen@clearwater.org)
or call her at Clearwater: 845-454-7673 x114.
Contact:
Tom Staudter
Communications Director
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
845-454-7673 x112
toms@clearwater.org |
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