River Currents Issue #5, August 2008
Gila River Photography Exhibit Heads to Santa Fe
The Gila Conservation Coalition and Randall Davey Audubon Center have teamed up to bring images of the unique beauty of the Gila River to Santa Fe. Gila River: Photographs of New Mexico’s Last Wild River will open in the Audubon Center’s conference room on August 22 and run through September 26. The exhibit features photographic works in color and black and white by Anthony Howell, Gordee Headlee, James Hemphill, Mike Fugagli, and Nanda Currant. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 9 am – 5pm. Weekends by reservation only by calling 505.983.4609.
Please join us for an opening reception on August 22 from 5pm – 7pm. Light hors d’oeuvres and wine will be served. For more information, contact the Gila Conservation Coalition at 575.538.8078 or info@gilaconservation.org.
Visions of Dulcinea:A Philosophical Perspective on River Restoration
Attendees of GCC’s Gila River restoration forum last week were treated not only to presentations on a variety of exciting local projects to restore and protect the Gila, but also to a reading of a wonderful essay by Mike Fugagli on river restoration. In reference to the beloved in Cervantes’ Don Quixote for whom Quixote endlessly fights, Visions of Dulcinea describes the importance of restoration to right the past wrongs of human intervention along the river and how a possible Gila diversion project perpetuates the futile attempts to tame the state’s last wild river. Here is a short excerpt:
“Restoration is a loaded word. It speaks of potential. It also suggests a returning, or a making whole. It is a deeply political term. It goes quickly to the heart of human nature.
When I think about restoration, I think about species like beaver and bullfrog, entering our watersheds with muscles flexed. The beaver works overtime to add complexity to its ecosystem and to increase biological diversity, while the bullfrog thrashes around blindly like a bull in a china shop. The beaver is a keystone species, the frog an invasive exotic; the beaver makes music, the frog makes noise.
Restoration is a loaded word, because, like it or not, we have a choice to make. Kierkegaard was right, it is either/or; beaver or frog. We either enhance the world or we degrade it. Held consciously or not, it is a decision that affects the meaning of our lives. . . . ‘ Read more here.
The Gila River Flows into Silver City
Q. What’s 72 feet long, and looks like the Gila River, but isn’t?
A. The Gila River mural!
Inspired by the delightful Gila River and M.C. Escher’s Metamorphosis, the mural “reads like a flowing river,” said lead artist Zoe Wolfe. “I had the concept, but the fun part was how the kids brainstormed, chose the images, and created the patterns.”
And what a pattern! The mural begins with a wave that transforms into a repeated flowing river, and features dragonflies, plants, birds, reptiles, foxes, and, of course, the Gila River. Woven into the mural are quotes infused with the river’s essence.
Working with Zoe at the mural camp were assistant artist Melanie Zipin, three interns, nine children, and a few volunteers. For two weeks in July, the mural camp student-artists invented patterns, painted panels and created tiles for the mural.
We owe a big thanks to Diana Ingalls-Leyba, the facilitator and visionary of the Mimbres Region Arts Council’s Youth Mural Project. We’re excited that this mural celebrating the Gila River will be included in the series of downtown artworks. It will be installed on Yankie Street, leading viewers from Bullard Street toward the flow of San Vicente Creek.
Intrigued about the mural? Join us at the dedication! The Gila River mural unveiling and ribbon-cutting takes place during the 4th annual Gila River Festival, on Saturday, September 20, 11 am, at the new home of the mural, at the corner of Yankie and Bullard Streets. We will have refreshments and hands-on family activities.
Before the unveiling takes place, we’d appreciate your help! In preparation for installing the mural, we need to prepare the wall that will be its home. Wall prep is scheduled for Friday, August 15, at 9 am. If you’d like to help, please call Diana at 575.388.5725 for more information, or just show up at the corner of Yankie and Bullard Streets on Friday morning.
Thank you to all our mural sponsors: Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation by Design, Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Company, Gila Conservation Coalition, Gila Conservation Education Center, Gila Native Plant Society, Gila Resources Information Project, L & I Arts, NEA, NM Arts, Prudential Properties, Rotary Club, Silver City Food Co-op, Silver City KOA, Syzygy Tile Works, and the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance.
Calendar of Events
August 22; 5pm – 7pm: Opening Reception of Gila River: Photographs of New Mexico’s Last Wild River. Randall Davey Audubon Center Conference Room, 1800 Upper Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM. Exhibit continues through September 26, Monday thru Friday 9am – 5pm.
< Wilderness Reach, © Mike Fugagli
September 3; 10am: Arizona Water Settlements Act Implementation Group meeting followed by Technical Subcommittee meeting. Grant County Administration Building, Silver City.
September 13; 8:30am – 1:00pm: Arizona Water Settlements Act Stakeholder Group meeting. Grant County Administration Building, Silver City.
September 18 – 21: 4th Annual Gila River Festival, A Source of Inspiration. A celebration of the Gila River as experienced through creative expression. For full schedule, event descriptions, and on-line registration visit www.gilaconservation.org or call 575.538.8078.