Archives for May 2020

May 13, 2020, Filed Under: student experience

A Bit of Reflection

This is a music composition I created for this project. Treat it as a bit of a mood setter for reading this blog 🙂

In our quest to enlighten the Austin community about the environment around us, my hope is that we’re able to present its sustainability through a medium that people want to see and listen to. As creatives, I feel like we have an obligation to use our talents to share stories and influence positive change to the rest of the world. Our Waller Creek Earth Day project seeks to do this, and I hope our audience develops a deeper awareness of the environment and how we can maintain it together.

To begin our research for this project, our team met with members of UT’s Sustainability Office to discuss the interaction of the human world with the creatures of Austin, like our Creek Monster. As we’re going through life, sometimes we get caught up and can focus too much on ourselves that we forget to inspire others alongside us. The way we take care of our environment effects all of us.

*Assembling the sound equipment for the installation*

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to launch our physical installation on the UT campus for Earth Day 50. Fortunately, we quickly adapted and transitioned our project online, focusing on celebrating the environment through social media. Via mostly Instagram and Facebook, we highlighted members of the Austin community who are putting their heart and soul in sustaining our environment. We call it our local heroes segment, and I just absolutely love that. Check us out @texasappliedarts .

We also took initiative in creating a sound log of a cumulation of Earth Day promises. We asked our friends, family, and communities to call in and make promises on ways they can help the environment. I’m so thankful for the amount of calls we got, and it sparks hope in knowing that we are not alone in this.

The biggest thing I’ve learned during this project is self-awareness. I’ve gotten into the habit of asking myself every day what I can do in that moment to help my environment. It started from taking much shorter showers to having deep conversations with my family, who have never paid any attention to environmental sustainability.

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and our transition online has resulted in many impacts on our environment. The scarcity of air travel has caused a great drop in air pollution. The lack of boat traffic has also lowered air pollution, but it further allowed sediments to set and cleared up the water for our aquatic friends. I can only imagine how our Creek Monster enjoying the water. However, I’m in no way saying this pandemic was a good thing, but rather, I would argue that it’s a wakeup call to the world. With all this time in quarantine, I hope that our project has given food for thought to how much we can accomplish together in the little actions we do.

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to make new connections within my team and thankful for the Green Fund grant for providing the freedom to be a part of art like this. Look out for the Waller Creek Earth Day installation coming Earth Day 2021!

May 5, 2020, Filed Under: Uncategorized

Waller Creek: The End For Me But Not For You

This semester was an interesting one. Never would I have imagined that a nationwide pandemic would force us to stay home, effectively stopping the Waller Creek Earth Day Project in its tracks. All the work that we had done as a class just negated, meaningless. I’m graduating, so I won’t even be able to see the end of the project. So, what’s the point now? What can I do?

It’s easy to get caught up in this kind of negative thinking, so let’s not do that. Let’s instead focus on the good that we have done, and are continuing to do despite our situations. Firstly, we are still accomplishing our goal of raising awareness for Waller Creek. Every student in this class has been working hard to expand our project to social medias since we can’t physically finish it.

A social media flier created by Laura Godinez to help continue our Earth Day Project

We’ve been reaching out to people, to get their voices heard, to channel the voice of Waller Creek through them.

Second, we’ve been writing about everything we did earlier this semester in detail. Just because it didn’t happen this year, doesn’t mean it won’t happen ever. I actually have a feeling that by next year, when we have a better grip on this virus, Waller Creek will still be calling, and it will be louder than ever. And even though I won’t personally be there to listen to its call, others will. So that’s why we’ve written down everything we’ve done, from all the little details that seem trivial to the bigger ones that seem so daunting, so that the people who pick up this project will be able to do all that we did, and more. I might not be there physically to help, but I will be there spiritually. So, this might be the end of my journey with Waller Creek, but it’s far from the end for Waller Creek. As long as it calls, people will listen.

May 1, 2020, Filed Under: Uncategorized

Earth Day Course Review

The story for this project begins with Karen Maness and Texas Performing Arts being presented with an opportunity to participate in the Waterloo Greenway 2019 Creek Show by creating a site specific art installation.

This opportunity led to the formation of a course in the Fall which designed and realized a Creek Monster Habitat over the course of the semester which was experienced by 60,000 people during the Creek Show. (That’s the photo Below.) The project is still ongoing and we’ve been working this semester to bring an iteration of the installation to UT campus for a celebration of Earth Day 50.

Our focus through all of this has been on engaging the public in natural urban spaces, revealing aspects of our riparian habitats and that often go unnoticed, and all while taking into account sustainable design and fabrication methodologies.

I’d like to mention here that this work is a reality because of a collaboration with the Sustainability Office and support through the Green Fund. an outdoor sculpture is lit up at nighttime

The first and most central goal we have is to raise awareness of the environment and our responsibility to it. As storytellers our approach has been to empathize with the creek ecosystem and use the installation as a space to bring people into connection with the spirit of the creek. We want to create caring connections across our community; for ecosystems and critters, for ourselves and our mental wellbeing; all the while connecting with the researchers and organizations on campus that are working for a sustainable present. We believe art is a powerful means to bring compelling new perspectives to light that can bring about healthy change and community action.

Community engagement is at the heart of this project and over the course of the last year we have had the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse set of people and organizations.

We’ve gotten to learn about and share work being done by researchers and student groups across campus and even beyond UT.

The physical creation of installation has necessitated and allowed for guest artists and experts to come and engage with the courses to help realize the vision. Creating new connections and opportunities for students.

All aspects of the work have been dreamed up and created by students from a diverse set of departments and colleges.

I’d like to share with you a little of what we had planned for our Earth Day installation, which would be up and glowing on 24th and San Jacinto along Waller Creek right now. We have three main areas of engagement we are working with.

Our installation team has been working to create physical manifestations through lighting and sculpture in order to express the story of the creek and to generate curiosity from passing pedestrians.

The social media team is working to spread the word by gathering stories from our local heroes, making infographics, and by creating fun filters for social media platforms.

The mental wellness team has been in charge of putting together activities that engage the community in positive practices.

Like all events… we’ve had to put a pause on our physical encounters for the time being, but we plan on bringing the installation back next Year! Luckily, social media has been a part of our plan from the beginning so we are now focusing on sharing the stories of sustainability and growth we’ve gathered from students and local heros. We’d love your help and voices in amplifying the Call of Waller Creek. If you are interested in participating the sustainability office, on their website, has shared the call we are putting out to gather personal stories and testimonies of sustainability being done throughout our community.