Transforming Waste into Art: A.I.R.E. Residency Showcases Eco-Conscious Creativity
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Margie McDonald poses next to her AIRE art. [/caption]
News by Angela Downs
Tracy Grisman and Margie McDonald are preparing for McDonald’s summer residency show at the Grover Gallery in her studio at Centrum, twisting wire like she was knitting. Grisman co-founded the Artist in Residence and Education at the Transfer Station (A.I.RE.) program, a grassroots and slow-growing program investigating our waste system. “We’d like to create community awareness of the human phenomena, the immensity, of the waste process,” Grisman said. She spoke of the waste workers as heroes and how a passion for nature can turn into a passion for trash. “It's not about being perfect. It’s about stewardship.”
The education factor of their name is a priority. Not only to educate and engage the community but also for each artist to create intimate relationships with the waste and waste facilities of their town. As the only people with permission to glean and mine from the Transfer Station, residents of A.I.R.E. have an invaluable resource of materials and information. They are welcome to glean not only for their residency project but also materials they feel inspired to use in future projects.
Members of the committee fundraise, collaboratively review candidates and choose residents, support individual artists, organize orientation, and maintain relationships at the Transfer Station. The waste center is a dangerous environment, and safety is essential, so every member and resident goes through safety training and protocols before the fun begins. The program is just getting its feet, and the members of the committee want to move slowly and build a strong foundation for their vision, including the potential to have more than one artist at a time, greater access for disabled artists, or even collaborations with other cities. As part of their commitment to education, creativity, and nature, the AIRE program joined Local 20/20 and Beyond Waste for their 501c3 nonprofit in 2024.
Though some of the momentum for the residency program came from highway trash pick-up prominades, where people wore gowns from the Goodwill to collect litter on Sims Way 2019, they have not yet received any applications with a performance or an audio element. Each resident is awarded a two-thousand dollar stipend, studio access on site, a public showing, and any materials they glean. The committee asks each artist to leave something behind for the studio collection.
McDonald left a boat-tail arthropod who lives at the transfer station and “eats methane” from her Summer 2024 residency. She was deeply inspired by the sounds, smells, and shadows of the transfer station, often finding herself laughing with grief, confronted with so much waste and loss. A lesson each resident must learn is how to communicate with the crew, but also how to keep the dignity of those who are dropping off. This is an environment of many intimacies.
McDonald's fabulous work will be on exhibit and for sale at the Grover Gallery 236 Taylor St Port Townsend from Jan 2- Feb 22, 2025.
Applications are now open and will be closed on March 23. Applicants must be eighteen years or older and living locally.
If you’d like to donate to the artist’s stipend, visit the Local 20/20 website, go to the donate button, and specify it is for A.I.R.E.
https://l2020.org/beyond-waste/
You can also see the catalogs from the most recent residences here, and apply by emailing through the site and requesting an application: https://aireatthetransferstation.com/
