Eco-Art Show Confronts Environmental Issues at Santa Barbara Community Arts Workshop

Art meets environmentalism at THE RECYCLED SHOW 2024: NO-WASTE EARTH art exhibit on view at the Community Arts Workshop (CAW) from March 27 to April 2.

“One only has to look around to see the extent of this community’s ingenuity, creativity, and passion for the arts and environment,” said exhibit organizer and curator Jami Joelle Nielsen. “I decided to kick off Earth Day and curate a unique recycled art event that reflects the region’s extraordinary talents and diverse stories and perspectives in confronting environmental issues.”

She asked a dozen of her fellow local artists to create recycled works of art centered on an environmental issue of their choice and to compose a narrative regarding the significance of their chosen environmental concern to accompany their artwork. Participating artists Mary Balda, Adrienne De Guevara, Kimberly Hahn, Sue Van Horsen, Dan Levin, Michael Long, Jami Joelle Nielsen, Heidi Parker, Mary Price, Vanae Mary Rivera, Dug Uyesaka, and Frank Whipple will use their pieces to confront important environmental issues like climate change, species extinction, fast fashion, pollinator crisis, wildfires, tech waste, landfill waste, ocean plastics/pollution, and deforestation. 

“We have a staggering variety and number of interdisciplinary, innovative, educational, philanthropic, environmental, and creative organizations, endeavors, and qualities serving the framework of our community, so much so that when I considered organizing an annual recycled art exhibit, I was surprised we didn’t already have one,” said Nielsen, whose own work as a recycled-object artist prompted her to recognize an opportunity in our community that seemed all too fitting: an annual recycled-art exhibit. 

“After all, this is Santa Barbara, a k a ‘Paradise,’ and home to the 1969 Oil Spill, which galvanized the Earth Day movement and spurred the creation of the nation’s first collegiate Environmental Studies Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara,” she continued. “The Channel Islands off our coast are often referred to as ‘The Galapagos of North America’ for the biodiversity found in our local waters and adjacent ecosystems.

“With Santa Barbara County boasting 2,000 NGOs, including many that focus on environmental concerns, the Community Arts Workshop is a fitting location for such an exhibit, as it was once a defunct recycling center, now repurposed in the best way to serve as a valuable community asset. This story is important and relevant to the place,” said Nielsen.

“When we encounter artwork, we may often miss the individual meaning, experience, or history it holds for an artist, hence the narratives artists have been asked to write regarding an environmental issue that resonates with them personally.” She added, “And now the intention is to grow THE RECYCLED SHOW — by size, reputation, and representation — into an exciting annual event!”

An artists’ reception featuring live interactive plastic “mandala” art assemblage, poetry, music, a “Make a Fish Wish” for the planet activity, a showing of the environmental art film Wasteland, and tables from environmental organizations like Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and Heal the Ocean, with light snacks and beverages provided, will be held Friday, March 29, from 5-8 p.m. at the CAW. In addition, all artwork is for sale with a portion of sales supporting the CAW.

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The gallery, located at 631 Garden St., is open by appointment on Wednesday, March 27; noon-5 p.m. Thursday, March 28; 5-8 p.m. Friday, March 29; noon-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, March 30-31; and by appointment Monday-Tuesday, April 1-2. Please call CAW at (805) 324-7443 to make an appointment to view the exhibition. See sbcaw.org/upcoming.