The Deering Estate Festival of the Arts Experience, Explore & Engage: Eco and Environmental Arts
(MIAMI, March 14, 2014) — Experience, engage and explore the integrated relationship between people and the environment through site specific eco and environmental works in the visual, literary and performing arts during the Deering Estate Festival of the Arts, April 11-13, 2014, at the Deering Estate at Cutler. The In Deep theme for this year's Festival is designed to immerse the senses with challenging performances and works that run the gamut from upcycled materials to activist statements; from sound installations to earth works. Events on Friday evening and Saturday after 3:30 p.m. are FREE and open to the public. On Saturday, April 12th, food and beverages will be available at the Culinary Café by the courtyard.
EXPERIENCE: From the moment visitors enter the Deering Estate at Cutler, they can follow their own path through historic and natural settings, and discover works and performances that are integrated into the man-made and natural landscape. Featuring 100 indoor and outdoor works of sculpture, performance and installation, the Deering Estate Festival of the Arts showcases 27 literary artists, 61 visual artists, and 122 performing artists in this naturally beautiful setting on the edge of Biscayne Bay.
ENGAGE: Part of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant project that created environmental interventions, interactions and residencies, In Deep is both a community wide engagement as well as a culmination exhibition that focuses on the Deering Estate at Cutler as a hub for environmental education, science and arts collaborations, and dialog.
EXPLORE: Visitors of all ages will start their artistic adventure as they wander through the indoor and outdoor exhibits and interact with performers, artists, and curators. On Saturday, April 12th, guests are invited to “Bring Their Own Perspective” (BYOP), and capture their experiences on film and in writing. Families are encouraged to go on an eco-scavenger hunt, hike along 7.2 miles of nature trails or take a mangrove boardwalk nighttime adventure tour!
Curator Lucinda Linderman shares “This festival brings together artists of varying art-making practices that raise awareness about environmental issues and man’s impact in his environment. Some works are created with alternative materials such as dirt, plastics, and discarded objects, while other works inspire action and activism through poetry and performance. I’m so pleased to discover through curating this exhibit all of the different ways that artists are dedicating their practices to these issues.”
Partner organizations include:
Playwright partners Lost Girls Theatre, Artist in Residence in the Everglades (AIRIE Residency), Coralmorphologic, FIU FCE-LTER, Tropical Botanic Artists, Keith Waddington (University of Miami), Locust Projects, The High Waterline Project, National Water Dance with simultaneous activity at over 90 Universities, Miami Dade College Dance Department and Earth Ethics Institute, Arthur and Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts, R.R. Moton Elementary, New World School of the Arts, Miami Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) - Artworks, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc.
Participating Artists include:
Deering Estate Artist in Residence Program: Michael Gellatly, Robert Sparrow Jones, Natalya Laskis, Mia Leonin, Nancy Martini, Gerry Stecca, Aida Tejada. AIRIE Residency: Harumi Abe, Wendy Call, Mark Dion and Dana Sherwood, Karen Glaser, Judith Greavu, Joanna Kidd and Danni Downing, Deedra Ludwig, Gustavo Matamoros, Christopher Reiger, Anne McCrary Sullivan. Invited Exhibitors Karla Caprali, Martin Casuso, Coralmorphologic Artists Colin Foord and Jared McKay, Xavier Cortada, Pauline Goldsmith/FIU FCE LTER and Tropical Botanic Artists (www.tropicalbotanicartists.com), Felice Grodin, Adler Guerrier, Babbette Hirschberg, Harry Hudson, Courtney Johnson, Alejandro Mendoza, Deborah Mitchell, National Water Dance, Margi Nothard, O, Miami Poetry Festival, Laz Oljalde, Gustavo Oviedo, Jose Pacheco, Ralph Provisero, Valeria Rocchiccioli, Samantha Salzinger, Colin Sherrell, Francisco Sheuat, Spoken Soul Festival, James Taylor, Eve Mosher and Heidi Quante - High Waterline Project, Leandro Vasquez, and Keith Waddington.
The opening event of the Festival of the Arts takes place on Friday, April 11th with the reading of Messenger #4 (or How to Survive a Greek Tragedy) by Will Hollis Snider. Presented by our playwright partners Lost Girls Theatre, Andie Arthur and Katie Siegal, the play addresses how a character’s actions inadvertently change the world. Held in the Visitor Center Theatre, a newly enhanced venue made possible by a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Grant. 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.; FREE and open to the public
The Eco and Environmental Art Exhibit In Deep opens to the public on Saturday, April 12th at 3:30 p.m. The day features Family Friendly interactive activities such as an Eco-Scavenger Hunt and Bring Your Own Perspective (BYOP) photography competition with prizes, a Nighttime Adventure Tour of the Mangrove Boardwalk Trail, as well as the Ekphrasitic Amble, a twitter poetry response (#deeringpoetry) to onsite works.
At 4:00 p.m. is the National Water Dance Performance, a simultaneous performance with 91 participating National Organizations, Dance Schools and Universities. This beautiful movement choir with over 100 voices, musicians and dancers will grace the main lawn and boat basin of the Estate while it brings attention to our fragile waters. For full participant listing please visit www.nationalwaterdance.org A corresponding onsite water awareness event and Shower Head Exchange will also take place by the Main Gate.
Following at 4:45p.m. is the In Deep Curator’s tour led by Exhibit Curator and environmental artist Lucinda Linderman and Deering Estate Exhibit Specialist, Kim Yantis. Get a behind the scenes look at the selection of artists and creation of works that showcase the many facets of eco and environmental art. Later in the evening at 8 p.m., participating artists and Deering Estate Assistant Director, Jennifer Tisthammer direct guests to an informal walking question & answer style tour of the indoor and outdoor works. Nature-based readings and ongoing poetry will occur in multiple locations with Literary Artist in Residence Mia Leonin, invited individual poets, Spoken Soul Festival, and O, Miami Poetry Festival participants culminating at the fire circle with participatory poems.
On Sunday, April 13th, the Living Artist Concert Series presents “A Spark of Genius: Nature’s Prodigies,” a celebration of musical imageries in nature and of natural sound. Guest violinist Charles Castleman and founding members of the Deering Estate Chamber Ensemble perform early chamber music works by Felix Mendelssohn and Erich Korngold. A Meet the Artist Reception begins at 6:30 p.m. with a 7:15 p.m. concert start. The cost is $25 for adults & $12 for youth (Grades K-12).
For more information on the Deering Estate Festival of the Arts, please visit www.deeringestate.org or call the Deering Estate Ticket Office at 305-235-1668 ext. 233.
With support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Deering Estate Foundation, Inc.
About the Deering Estate at Cutler
The Deering Estate at Cutler, a Miami-Dade County Park, is located at 16701 SW 72 Avenue in Miami. This 444-acre natural and archeological preserve and historic site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as a center for education, culture and recreation. Historic house tours are offered daily at 10:30 am & 3:00 pm. Natural areas tours are offered daily at 12:30 pm (October – May). EcoAdventure Tours are also offered throughout the year for an additional fee. For more information on the Deering Estate's educational and cultural programs, please visit www.deeringestate.org.