The Labor and Costs

Phase 1:
Phase 1 would be cleaning up the forest and decontaminating the water which from years of neglect has become full of silt, and other toxins. There once was a path that ran around the lake that has been covered over, and faded out. The path needs to be re shaped and cleaned up to make it accessible to all differently abled bodies. The land then will be surveyed, for re-planting indigenous trees in order to refurbish the space of its local wildlife.

Second the strategic layout of lighting is done in order to illuminate the space reducing physical threat, promoting a safe space for the students and other residential life both in the daytime and night. It also serves to minimize this over consensus that the green space is an anonymous entity silenced from the rest University’s narrative.

Thirdly, Indigenous trees will be implanted back into the forested area in order to replenish the lost, and or diminished wild life. To add to the aesthetic feel of the green commons we would like to insert tree swings that would instill a cohesive and conjoined collective.

Finally we would like to commission an environmental artist purely for consulting us in transforming the space into a living water garden, and sculpture orchard. Here we will solicit aid and volunteer from the University at Albany Art Department in order to instill a spirit of cooperation and interdisciplinary participation.

In keeping with the Keeper’s of Water ideology of combining science and art in order to articulate an awareness and activist approach to environmental justice. The garden would “clean, protect and restore” the particular body of water in question, and the sculptures would maintain an ongoing dialogue between humans and nature. Environmental art utilizes the information regarding environmental issues and interprets it through the peaceful marinade of nature and artistic vision. It is meant to inform and educate people in their connection to the natural world, while help rectify many of the problems that has arisen. A living water garden for example will be self maintaining, dealing in sewage problem, fish and other living habitat restoration, lowering of water temperatures and so forth. The sculptures (we envision) may interact with the surroundings but is not meant to intrude, working with the land, not adding to it.

Budget Pie Chart