Symbiosis - the research for documenting the work.

In 2020, I was asked by Lawndale to propose a sculpture for the sculpture garden. Instead of proposing one of my steel or bronze sculptures, I proposed a living sculpture titled Symbiosis. I have since endeavored to witness and record/document its growth and relationships through photography. These photographs will be my reference materials for more poetic documentation. Simultaneously I have sought out historical and contemporary ways of immortalizing natural history. My search led me to explore websites, antique stores, and estate sales, looking for how naturalists, explorers, and artists have documented Earth’s wildlife and plant life’s relationships throughout history. This research has led to the discovery of two exquisite artistic collections from 1705 and 1903 that sparked inspiration within: Maria Sibylla Merian's book Metamorphosis Insectorum (1705) as well as Theodore Jasper’s American Ornithologists' Union (1903). Both are incredibly valuable works that promise to help me find my wings and bring Symbiosis memories into full bloom.

For the next seven months, I will diligently document through photography the unique relationships as they develop in Symbiosis. When 2023 draws to a close, my contract with Lawndale runs out. Then, I will start the final chapter of the work. This project has become something special that needs to be immortalized in artworks showing their symbiotic relationships. With watercolor monotypes as my medium of choice and abstract expressionism becoming part of me along the process - these works are primed to tell stories of how humanity can reconnect with natural systems in urban landscapes.

Theodore Jasper’s American Ornithologists' Union (1903)

Theodore Jasper’s American Ornithologists' Union (1903)

Maria Sibylla Merian's book Metamorphosis Insectorum (1705)

Green Tree Frog Eggs

We had the first big spring rain the week before Mother’s Day. That Saturday , I stopped in "Symbiosis" to check out the wildlife and chat with anyone visiting the exhibitions. To my surprise, the pond is now a green tree frog nursery. The trough pond is surrounded by tall native plants that tree frogs love. I have not seen the green tree frogs since last year, I thought I heard them one night few weeks ago. Mother toads and tree frogs have to have water to lay their eggs. I believe tree frogs lay their eggs on limbs where they fall in the water.

Above are a few watercolor monotypes I did of the tree frog.

Symbiosis - where are the birds?

For several weeks I have noticed the neighborhood birds are not stopping into Symbiosis. I have asked the neighbors and they have noticed the birds were absent too. Today an article came out in the Houston chronicle, Songbirds Take a Break.

March 19th - first bird in garden. An Amerucan red robin foraging for insects, bugs, protein or seeds, poking it's beak into the newly installed living compost.

March 31, 2021 robin hunting for grubs as I install the American beautyberry.

April 9, 2021 robin on the oak stump. I installed rotting native tree stumps to give the birds a camouflaged lookout and hideout.

April 9, 2021 dove

May 22, 2021,

blue jay

May 1, 2021 American red robin

June 19, 2021

June 22, 2021

Symbiosis- art activism

Can art activate change? It has in the past and global communication is easier than ever. I received the below email from Chris Mc Fraughton of Take Two environmental. :)

Chris was trained at Elain Ingram’s the Soil Food Web. He knows what he is doing.

Symbiosis - Nash Prairie - seed collecting

Mark Morganstern of Morning Star Prairie Plants invited me to join him to collect seeds for Symbiosis at the Nature Concervancy’s Nash Prairie Preserve. “The 400-acre tract is one of the last remaining segments of the Great Coastal Prairie, which once encompassed six million acres between Lafayette, Louisiana and Corpus Christi, Texas. Nash is a pristine piece of prairieland, largely unaltered by man or machine. More than 300 plant species have been documented there, including several rare species and at least one type of grass thought to be extinct in Texas since the 1800s.“

I will plant the seeds in Symbiosis this fall. Next summer I will collect seeds and share them with other properties.

Green tree frog on a Rattlesnake master. The rattlesnake master reportedly supports 250 species of wildlife.

Rattlesnake master seeds

The prairie

Coneflower seeds

Rosinweed Sunflower seeds

Rosinweed sunflower

These are the seeds on the plant

Symbiosis — The Symmetry of Weeds, Ecosystem Services and Art Activism

In June the Lawndale Art Center opened the Big Show. I was very fortunate that nature was cooperating and Symbiosis was vibrant with both plants, pollinators and insects. The skies were full of dragonflies of every color, there was not a mosquito in sight. The bee balm was a bee crowd-pleaser and the passionflower was crawling in caterpillars. It felt good.

For approximately two weeks after Houston received large amounts of rainfall. Rain or shine I still went every day to observe the landscape, look for signs of new urban wildlife and learn from the work. I saw that a living sculpture is a moving target. During this time period, plenty of volunteer plants appeared, covering the spots of bare earth as nature knows is best. I diligently photographed the volunteer plants and researched them through my National Geographic citizen naturalist iNaturalist app. If they supported wildlife and they were in a location that they were not distracting I left them. If they were visually obtrusive or blocking another plant's growth or light. I pulled them. I winced with each pull, my instinct in regards to healthy soil and natural solutions was to leave them, they are sequestering carbon, any disturbance of soil releases carbon. Weeds have a role in the ecosystem: they establish quickly, protect exposed soil, provide habitat for beneficial organisms. Weeds are a natural response to heal disturbed earth. From an environmental point of view, they are a benefit to the landscape. From an artist's point of view, I love the weeds. They add a variety of line, an unexpected pop of color, movement, rhythm and a variety of patterns. As a sculptor interested in ways I can incorporate time snd movement in my work, I am a fan of weeds they are a design tool.

That said as an earth conservation art activist the purpose of the work is to inspire others to use native plants in urban landscapes. If the weeds turn people off before they learn about the work, the piece as art activism is a failure. Finding the balance, the symmetry with weeds continues to weigh heavily on my mind. I remind myself of the bigger picture—activate change, create a micro-ecosystem that others will be inspired to imitate. I know change can happen at lightning speed when innovation is coupled with imitation.

Phytolacca americana, also known as American pokeweed,

Detail of Phytolacca americana, American pokeweed,

Sesbania is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, and the only genus found in the tribe Sesbanieae. Riverhemp
a nitrogen fixer

“Nitrogen is the element responsible for lush green plant growth, but plants aren't actually able to use the nitrogen gas in Earth's atmosphere. Certain plant species, though, harbor bacteria in their roots that convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form that plants can absorb.“ learn more here.

Aesthetically as an artist this quiet corner of graceful movement is inspiring. The repeated surfboard shaped leaves delicately attached to the slender stem create a stunning rhythm and repeated pattern.

Jacquemontia tamnifolia Hairy cluster vine - insanely cool bloom, complex in its texture, shape, and color palett.

As stunning as this complicated vine’s bloom is I could not find anything about it it online, except it is capable of surviving fires. It does have the physical characteristics that attract bees, blue petals, and exposed stamen. I will take the risk and keep it. With any luck it will support at least one of pollinator species that we do not yet know we have lost. To return what we do not know we have lost is what inspires me to do this work.

I came across an invasive species, Fatoua villosa Hairy Crabweed. see future Symbiosis post

SOCIALsculpture — how to see Houston

"If you want to make small changes, change how you do things;

if you want to make big changes, change how you see things."

— In Dirt to Soil, Gabe Brown

How do we restore an ecological balance in Houston? We see Houston in the global ecosystem, see our relationship with wildlife and sea life of the western hemisphere.

Houston

See — Houston can balance humanity and urban wildlife.

Site-Specific installation: Symbiosis is a micro-ecosystem in an important ecological space.

Houston is 600 square miles of mostly privately owned land inhabited by 2.3 million organisms, on the Gulf Coast of South-Eastern North America. Its rainwater runoff feeds the ocean and impacts reefs one hundred miles into the seas. Chemicals from Houston are reported killing reefs 100 miles into the Gulf.

Drain

See — The pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides used to keep Houston’s commercial, residential city and county landscapes manicured are leached by rainwaters that drain into the Gulf of Mexico from our streets.

The plants in Symbiosis do not need chemical inputs to thrive. They have evolved to withstand droughts floods and freezing temperatures.

Located near the lower apex of the triangular-shaped North American continent Houston’s land and water provide nesting, hydration, and nutrition for animals that utilize this critical migratory pathway that funnels migratory life between the northern and southern continents of the western hemisphere. More than one in four birds in the U.S. and Canada has disappeared within my lifetime. Birds play crucial roles in maintaining an ecological balance on the coastal prairie, from eating mosquitos to providing food for scavengers and decomposers.

One In Four Birds In the US Has disappeared In My Lifetime.

See — that birds play crucial roles in maintaining an ecological balance on the coastal prairie, from eating mosquitos to providing food for scavengers and decomposers.

Symbiosis is building living soil that supports bugs, beetles and insects that birds need to feed their young.

A male American Robin sits on the fence at Lawndale at the light of day June 18th, 2021 with Gulf fritillary larvae in his mouth. Until Symbiosis was installed birds flew over Lawndale. The garden was sterile of what modern civilization calls landscape pests/what birds feed their young. The sculpture garden did not offer food or habitat for birds.

Larvae of Gulf Frittilary butterfly – Detail of Symbiosis

See — An important nutrient necessary for birds young to thrive.

With native plants in our urban gardens and commercial outdoor spaces, chemical inputs are not necessary. Chemical-free yards will help bring back the 1107 species once common in the Coastal Prairie.

Houston, the site, has experienced extreme flooding and weather conditions. We are located where once was the Coastal Prairie ecosystem that sequestered Carbon like an upside-down rainforest and absorbed water like a sponge. Of that original landscape, only 1% still exists. And yet, we can see an opportunity to capitalize on Houston’s reputation as the city of energy and cultural diversity. We can mitigate global warming and extreme weather conditions by changing how we see our role in a balanced ecosystem.

Lawndale Symbiosis

Lawndale’s sculpture garden is a micro-ecosystem within an important macro-ecosystem that casts a wide net.

Symbionts

The Passiflora incarnata provides nectar for pollinators. Native bees are the original regenerative farmers, they take nectar and regenerate the flower pollinating the Passiflora incarnata.

This is one species of the 4,000 bees native to the US. (Please note this is not a honey bee. Honey bees are not native to the US. They are part of the industrial farming ecological problem.)

I see an opportunity to create the visual for environmental change. I see hope.

“Look closely at nature and you will understand everything better” - Albert Einstein

Look closely at your micro-ecosystem.

To sustain is not enough. Our civilization has depleted the Earth's soil. It is not enough to sustain a depleted planet; we must all do our part and regenerate soil health to sustain life. Regenerating the Earth’s soil is an ongoing DIY project.

ART CAN ONLY ACTIVATE CHANGE WITH YOUR ADDED PERFORMANCE

—If you care about the environment, help get the conversation going and restore an ecological balance in Houston. Post one image of Houston native plants and or wildlife on Instagram  #lawndalesymbiosis and tag two friends.

In addition, forward this to two friends. 

Ask two friends to do the same, and ask them to ask two more friends, building a pyramid of activism.

For an enhanced experience viewing Houston’s wildlife and landscape I recommend the citizen science apps

“iNaturalist” and “Seek”.

#LawndaleSymbiosis

Symbiosis — DIY (the images for this post are under construction, stay tuned)

Symbiosis — DIY Steps

Change can happen at lightning speed when innovation is coupled with imitation. Here are the steps I took feel free to imitate them.

I became familiar with the six principles of Holistic Regenerative agriculture through the Savory Institute, Roam Ranch and was recently featured in the film Kiss the Ground. I wanted to make a difference and regenerate depleted land, too. However, a bison ranch is not in my future. It occurred to me that changing how we landscape Houston could make an ecological impact. Lawndale Art Center offered me the opportunity to install an environmental sculpture in the garden. They had just re-landscaped the sculpture garden with a traditional garden, so I did not expect them to accept my proposal. However, Lawndale is committed to artists that explore aesthetic, critical and social issues of our times. Symbiosis is a catalyst to invite the public to change Houstons’s environmental impact. Applying these principles to Houston’s greater urban landscape will significantly impact climate and extreme weather conditions. Houstonians—or anyone—can do this. Climate change is a DIY project.

Below I describe these principles as I applied them to Symbiosis.

See how others across the world have used the same principles I used below.

6 PRINCIPLES of HOLISTIC REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE AND SYMBIOSIS

Installing this site-specific installation, I incorporated the same principles used to regenerate depleted soils worldwide.   

Holistic management — BALANCE —Symbiotic

I keep in mind that the garden is a microsystem that must contribute to and function in the greater ecosystem of the western hemisphere’s continents and waters. In Symbiosis, I balance the needs of the; art institution, urban wildlife, donors, exhibiting artists, the surrounding community, and volunteers.

Holistic management — balancing the needs to run the art center, the neighboring community and urban wildlife/landscape.

Integrating livestock to build soil microbes — GroundWORK

 Living soil does not come from synthetic inputs. Instead, it comes from decaying matter that completes the circle of life. Mimicking this process in an urban environment is a crucial step. Without it, there is no life. In the natural world, grazing livestock such as bison, cows, sheep, goats, or chickens provides the decaying matter through their waste, stomping it in the ground and eating and damaging vegetation.

In Symbiosis, I mimic this process by installing a native leaf compost with animal waste components. It is full of beneficial microbes, free of dangerous synthetic chemicals, toxic dyes, and sewage. The heat from composting kills the pathogens. It is safe for children and pets. Because this step is critical, I turned it into a community performance art event. — GroundWORK

Intergrading animal — GroundWORK

Native moldy leaf compost was installed during the GroundWORK event on behalf of RoXoR gin a sponsor of Lawndale’s spring 2021 fundraiser event.

 Eliminating tillage  — CarbonSINK

 While we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is more critical to sink the Carbon in the atmosphere back into the soil. Carbon is stabile in the roots and microorganisms of plants in the ground. When soil is disturbed, Carbon is exposed to oxygen and transformed into carbon dioxide, which warms the planet. Conversely, organisms can establish communities that feed off the soil's organic matter when the earth is undisturbed. As soil organic matter improves, so does the soil’s internal structure.

A healthy soil biome is vital for suppressing plant diseases and cycling nutrients among plants, eliminating the need for synthetic inputs whose production increases our carbon footprint.

 In Symbiosis, I am building a CarbonSINK by not turning the soil over before planting, keeping the soil structure intact as much as possible, and implementing “Chop and Drop” composting when plants go dormant.  Symbiosis builds soil biology and increases soil structure, increasing the soil's ability to absorb Carbon and water, reducing runoff, soil erosion, flooding, and preventing pollution from entering nearby bayous. 

Eliminating tillage — CarbonSINK

After a freeze in 2022, the red salvia above ground suffered. I carefully chopped all the dead materials and dropped them in the garden. I always leave the roots in the ground and 6” - 10” of stems for solitary native bees to nest in.

Maximizing crop/plant biodiversity, — ReCover

 We do not know what we have lost until we recover it.

With this thought, I researched native plants and what roles they have played in the Houston area ecosystem. Identified in the Coastal Prairie are more than 1,000 plus plant species. I have not relied on hybrids/variants of species or plants considered beneficial. Instead, I selected 36 species known as indigenous to the area. Native plants have supported over 4,000 native bees, 1,107 bird species, 750 species of butterflies, 200 skippers, and 11,000 months, and 4,000 wasps.

Symbiosis is to recover and support as many of these species as possible for all four seasons. In addition to supporting wildlife, I sought out plants that helped control ground erosion and water absorption.  — Plant it and they will come—

Maximizing Biodiversity — ReCover

Hyla cinerea , there are five true tree frogs in Texas. They climb grass and require a permanent water feature, a trough pond will do. I first saw tree frogs in the garden in September 2021 on a bushy Bluestem. I have since seen them on the Mealy blue sage. I have never seen a 2.5” tree frog in Houston before. I hope we can recover a few for every yard.

Plant material selections:  Salvia Lyrata, Calyptocarpus vialis, Phyla nodiflora, Bouteloua gracilis, Carex peredentata, Tradescantia occidentalis, Calyophus brerland, Oenothera speciosa, Rudbeckia hirta, Ratibida columnifera, Monarda citriodora, Echinacea purpurea, Schizachyrium scoparium, Salvia coccinea, Gaillardia pulchella, Symphyotrichum patens, Salvia, Farinacea, Chasmanthium lati, Silphium gracile, Verbena xutha, Salvia azurea, Eryngium yuccifolium, Solidago sempervirens, Capsicum annuum, Callicarpa  Americana, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus.

Grasses:  Andropogon gerardii Vitman, Schizachyrium scoparium, Chasmanthium latifolium, Carex texensis

VINES: Lonicera sempervirens L, Gelsemium sempervirens, Wisteria frutescens, begonia capreolata, Passiflora incarnata

Keeping the soil covered — Skin =  CarbonSINK + GroundWATER  =  GlobalCOOLING

—Skin, Like human skin the palnet’s skin provides many services necessary for good health.

The Earth’s skin is green. “The Earth is a living organism, composed of millions of species and billions of organisms—bacteria, algae, microscopic insects, earthworms, beetles, ants, mites, fungi and more—representing the greatest concentration of biomass anywhere on the planet. Microbes, which make up only one-half of one percent of the total soil mass, are the yeasts, algae, protozoa, bacteria, nematodes, and fungi that process organic matter into rich, dark, stable humus in the soil."  There are more soil microorganisms in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on the Earth! The living organisms in the soil receive their food and shelter from plants' biological processes and physical structure.

In Symbiosis protecting the surface of the work with green skin is an easy decision for me. The quality of the skin is intimately tied to cooling the planet through Carbon and groundwater.

Keeping the soil covered — Skin

 —CarbonSINK

I installed the plant material in a manner that mimics how seeds drift in the wind and are carried by animals in their coats or deposited in their waste — resulting in multilayered vertical, horizontal, and diagonal jigsaw puzzles of leaf shapes. These shapes have evolved over thousands of years, woven together to maximize every ray of sunlight. The living material will grow into a three-dimensional solar panel from 6" to  6' tall, sequestering Carbon out of the air and storing it in the living soil. I did not leave the ground bare around each species as is popular in traditional urban landscapes.

CarbonSINK — utilizing a variety of plant shapes to maximize carbon capture.

— GroundWater

Living organisms need oxygen. When rain hits the unprotected ground, the micro spaces that allow air to penetrate the soil collapse and the living organisms die from lack of oxygen. I selected thirty-six species of plants to include various leaf sizes and shapes, stem heights, bloom sizes, and surface textures. As the plants mature, they become a multitiered water slide of twists and turns, slowing rainwater, trickling it to the ground. This allows the Earth to respond like a sponge soaking up the precipitation and channeling it through the root systems and air pockets as freshwater to the aquifer for future generations. Slowing rainwater can mitigate flooding that has become the norm in Houston. 

— GlobalCOOLING: Soil soaked in water like a sponge and covered in plants that move, as a gentle breeze blows off the Gulf of Mexico, conditions and cools the air and the earth as it is warmed by the sun. In contrast moving cool rainwater across hot surfaces such as turf grass, artificial turf or concrete landscape, warms the water, picks up chemicals and dumps the urban solar-heated water full of toxic chemicals into the ocean. 

GroundWater and GlobalCOOLING — multiple layers of plants slow rainwater, giving the ground time to soak it up, purify and store it in the aquifer.

Maintaining living roots year-round — FoodWEB — GlobalCOOLING

Living roots in the soil are vital for feeding the bacteria and fungi that provide food for the creatures further up the chain. Living roots keep mycorrhizal fungi alive and healthy. These symbionts are vital for nourishing plants and provide convenient fertilizer and water. Maintaining living roots in the ground feeds organisms, providing year-round carbonSINK and GlobalCOOLING.

Spontaneity and art - a good thing, we will see

I started my day at 6:30 am, pasting images of work into a word document for a curator/art consultant. A necessary task that I was thrilled to do- however, mind-numbing, to say the least. By 12:30 crossed eyed I took the dogs on a walk. When I came across this. My mind numbing was instantly healed with inspirational thoughts.

Seven immaculately bundled trimmings from a neighbors Crape, Myrtle. Crape murdered or not I- the trees were in the backyard, could not see them.

My trimmings from a site-specific installation @Lawndale Center for the Arts. Symbiosis

The image above is from last week at Lawndale (a post in am tardy with) My trimmings are wild and unruly. I am using them on social media to make a point - to change how we landscape- to landscape with habitat for wildlife in mind.

My neighbor's bundles of limbs are in sharp contrast to mine. They are an example of how controlling urban green spaces have become, the tidiness that is expected In our yards.

I am so tempted——— Such a great opportunity to turn these found object organic materials, perfectly assembled tied up with yellow cords into gorilla art. The colors will look amazing at Lawndale. It is not part of my work on Symbiosis to install anything I want. 🤔 The entire dog walk I was haunted by the bundles and their yellow cords. I am not comfortable installing gorilla art but I am excited with the idea and I know Lawndale won’t have me arrested like other institutions might if I randomly installed objects in their sculpture garden, right?

I have always challenged myself to take on the art that scares me the most- to embrace the butterflies as my son tells me. You don’t know until you try. - jump

I went to the door, I was hoping no one was home, Abby was a new neighbor and I introduced myself. - she moved in during Covid. We had a nice chat and she welcomed me to take her piles.

It took two trips

😁 when I bring new materials to Lawndale, I like to photograph them on this turquoise wall- documenting my materials. And I have to say! I love the colors - the Textures.

I declare this installation number 1. Untitled.

This technically is not Lawndale property, the wall is theirs, but the lot is unfortunately not owned by the institution. The lot is vacant. I get all the bundles out so I can pick up load number 2.

Installation number 2

Installation number 3

The yellow ties make my heart sing, that rich brown against the turquoise, and the golden grass softening the base, I am in heaven. I see ballerinas chins up, lined up to take their bows center stage. I had one left.

A painter from last week left their yellow roller- waste not want not. The clippings Are rich on the violet too.

Sometimes I feel guilty that I love my work so much.

Lawndale Art Center - symbiosis

"It's not about glorifying the past, or vilifying progress," emphasizes Professor Boivin. "Instead, it's about bringing together the best of the past, present and future to steer a responsible and constructive course for humanity."

In a nutshell, this is what I hope to achieve with my site-specific piece, Symbiosis.

I am rethinking the uses of yard clippings.

Lawndale - Symbiosis - extractive

In Symbiosis I am stretching my practice and creating a living piece of site-specific art activism that will reimagine a 53.5’ X 48’ traditional urban landscape/sculpture garden and answer the question: how do we holistically restore an ecological balance in Houston? Symbiosis is a collaboration with Lawndale Art Center’s community, neighbors, urban wildlife, and the coastal prairies carbon cycle.

The west border of the garden has five 1 1/2 year old Crepe Myrtle’s a tree famous for murder. The murder refers to badly pruning the tree- down to the knuckles. I was not having these Crape Myrtle’s murdered. Today I used a extractive method of sculpting and clipped- nipped - and cut the existing branches. I shaped the branches/armature of the two end trees.

A sculpture garden has the four seasons of the year and a sculpture garden has the additional change of exhibitions. The pedestals from the last exhibit were still in the garden. 🤔perfect way to highlight the beauty in the wild- the imperfect- the not immaculate urban landscape.

FYI- crepe Myrtle’s are not native however they are a cherished gift to the Art Center. As an optimistic art activist I look at the project holistically to include the desires of the Art Centers board.

When I work in wire, or steele if I cut too much I can always weld it back it add more wire they are forgiving materials. When I clip a branch it is gone- no second chance. .

#artactivism #cindeeklementart #symbiosis #lawndaleartcenter #nativeplants #coastalprairie #sculpture

Create Myrtle cuttings wildly place on a pedestal.

North West Crepe Myrtle after pruning.

Cuttings from two Crepe Myrtle's and the olive trees from a few weeks ago.

South end Crepe Myrtle

Lawndale’s Symbiosis - constant research

Symbiosis is a long term art installation. A piece of dirt in the middle of a large US city, an ecosystem that serves the local art community. Through pairing my intuitive sculptural practice, and natural history research I am sculpting the garden into an ecosystem that balances the needs of the Homo sapien art community and the urban natural world. I spend much of my time filtering through biologist research, inspirational documentaries and interviews of individuals that are leading the way. New Year’s Day I listened to a remarkable podcast an interview of Nora Bateson who is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator, The podcast was taped before the pandemic. She knows what she is talking about. Here are two quotes from the podcast that gave me pause and reminded me how grateful I am for my opportunity to make a difference through Symbiosis at Lawndale

“ In my little fantasy there is a great big pause button, and we can say hold everything, let’s regroup, let's turn this titanic around”

“One way or another the systems that we are within are going to change.”

A very enlightening podcast regarding how change and regeneration happens. It is haunting to consider this came out before the Covid 19 quarantine of 2020. Everything Nora talks about addresses the things I am thinking about. She is most definitely an influencer. I will continue to follow and monitor her work.

You can find the interview at The Regenarration podcast on Soundcloud Solve Everything at once.

Checking on the garden I found a moth that was still alive laying in the Pond. I rescued him and laid him out to dry.

Symbiosis - Living environment affects the microbiota and health of both dogs and their owners

Every morning I start my day reading an email from Sciencedaily.com. I read the environmental and health-related research news, scanning for articles that relate to my environmental/conservation sculptures and monoprints. The article Living environment affects the microbiota and health of both dogs and their owners Is an exciting read for me. My World of Hum kinetic sculpture was inspired by the impact pesticides have on native bee microflora and one aspect of my current work in progress Symbiosis at Lawndale addresses soil microbes in the sculpture garden.

Visitors are relaxing in the garden during a performance piece at the fall opening event.

Dogs are a large part of urban living and, surprisingly, at Lawndale Art Center. Every other day I stop by Lawndale to study the garden, looking for any changes in the soil, leaves, vines, pond water, and look and listen for any wildlife. Often I run into neighbors of Lawndale with small dogs that visit the garden. Stephanie, her four-year-old daughter, and King Charles Spaniel also spend time together enjoying the outdoors in the garden. Sometimes on Sundays, I bring my labrador Tobi with me. It is hard to judge the impact of urban landscapes on those who visit these green spaces with their pets. Living soil unquestionably has an impact on our microbiomes and our pets as well as supports urban wildlife. One of the most interesting books on the subject of our microbiome is I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong. Dogs

Basically everything we do impacts our microbiomes. In order to build a healthy immune system a key element in any environment is diversity. My sculpture Symbiosis will be have a positive affect on the microbiota and health of both dogs and their owners who spend time in the garden.

Symbiosis- fluffy bluestem

Through art, I am finding new ways to see Houston’s urban landscapes. The bushy bluestem is a coastal prairie native and a volunteer at Lawndale art center, the location of my 2021 site-specific sculpture installation.

For creating movement and living soil, bushy bluestem is a fabulous material to consider. At this point, I do not know if it will make the cut of materials for the sculpture; however, it does have some attractive characteristics as a material for living soil, and aesthetically I think it is beautiful. The spikelets of silky feathers curl out of a sphere of fine hairs. It is tall and graceful, peering five feet off the ground. In my mind, I can see a cluster of them suited in costumes of golden cotton candy swaying across the stage of coastal prairie under the spotlight of our earth's closest star. Their rhythm succumbs to the breeze that sweeps off the coast. They create the perfect; kitchen of seeds for birds and small mammals, cozy nesting materials for birds, winter food for prairie chickens, field sparrows, and juncos. I can hear a symphony of songbirds serenading the morning as butterflies flit, and flingle and native bees start their day. With close inspection and a little luck, you may even discover a Skipper or Satyr larvae starting a new life amongst their stems. #symbiosis #cindeeklementart #livingsoil #sitespecificart #texasart #bushybluestem #houstonart #texassculpture #contemporaryart #nativebees #bees #wildlife #livingsoil

Changing how we see urban landscapes in Houston.

Lawndale Art Center — Symbiosis environmental art activism project announced

Lawndale Art Center a staple on my radar as a possible venue for an environmental art exhibition. The sculpture garden, primed to be relandscaped in a manner that could communicate any number of environmental issues in my head.

The Lawndale Art Center Sculpture garden before the 2019 re-landscape.

I have had a few casual discussions with Stephanie about these ideas in the past, however other opportunities came my way, and frankly, I dropped the ball.

During the first COVID 19 quarantine, Lawndale Art Center reached out to me regarding their sculpture garden. They were interested to know if I would assist them with some weeding in their newly landscaped sculpture garden, I often volunteer there. When I heard the words, “newly landscaped sculpture garden,” my heart fell to the ground. I had blown it, I missed the best art venue opportunity to create a piece that looks at urban landscape as a found object. I was crushed, disappointed and angry at myself. I decided to focus on my Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus, a piece I am creating for Sculpture Month Houston. In turning Lawndale down I sent them a copy of the proposal I made to SMH. A few days later I remember thinking to myself, “well you blew that opportunity, you will never get a show at Lawndale now.” A few weeks after that— they called me back and asked me to meet them at the sculpture garden. Masked I met with Stephanie and Emily and they asked me to do a site-specific environmental piece in the newly relandscaped garden. It was the last thing I expected—A dream come true was not in my mind of possible COVID19 realities. We also discussed their need for some happiness in the garden. The garden does not have any beneficials planted. Sympathetic to their need for some visual happiness I offered to plant a few flowers.

By this time it is unbearable—Houston—July—Hot.

What can you plant in July and have it not fry, if anything? I am not an experienced gardener I am an artist/activist and a citizen environmentalist—but my friend and past President of the Harris County Master Gardeners, artist, and curator is a very knowledgable gardener. A super busy Renassaince man, Will Isbell kindly offered to meet me on a Friday evening at the garden to see if there was anything I could plant that would not die in this July heat. There was not, but we did have a great talk.

We both saw the existing garden in the same way a missed opportunity for an environmental artist. And then it hit me. I suggested that I propose to Lawndale that the two of us do a project that takes the existing new traditional landscaped garden and use it as a found object to create a piece to activate change in Houston’s landscape. Will did not hesitate.

The question was how do I get them on board. They have already spent good money and the garden by any standards is beautifully done. One thing everyone knows about Lawndale, it is an art space for the voices of artists breaking boundaries and unearthing contemporary knowledge, nothing is too daring for Lawndale. They are the space in Houston to open minds. They were encouraging and interested in this new idea and wanted me to continue working on a concept for a solo environmental piece as well the piece with Will.

I am still num with these two opportunities and excited with the potential to instill hope and heal the environment.

Lawndale announced the project Will and I are doing together last week. Below is the proposal for the work. I wrote it in early July, as I read the opening paragraph today, with California on fire, and Houston flooding again I am taken back by how much the world has changed since I wrote it.— and not in a good way.

Lawndale Sculpture Garden Proposal

Cindee Travis Klement and William Isbell

What is to be gained in the year 2020, the year of perfect vision? In our largest cities, a tiny virus is killing our most vulnerable, crippling our strongest economies, forcing our families into food lines, and providing kindling for social reform protests. In the natural world tucked within our largest cities, this same tiny virus has improved the air that we breathe, returned fireflies to our summer nights, and allowed wildlife to inhabit our neighborhoods. The connection between the land, plants, mankind, and wildlife in urban environments has never been more evident.

What is to be gained in the COVID 19 moment of enlightenment: our eyes have opened to the state of our living systems, and we have discovered that unimaginable change is possible. We have seen that we cannot wait for the tests to tell us if we are sick. Without design, we have found an unprecedented moment, we have gained an opportunity to change.

SYMBIOSIS

As visual artists and art activists, we will connect soil health and the health of our city. We will create a living piece of site-specific art activism that will reimagine the urban landscape and answer the question — how do we holistically restore an ecological balance that can coexist in Houston with nature/ wildlife through sculpture and community involvement. We see the Mary E. Bawden Sculpture Garden's terrain with its manicured, status quo landscape as our found object. With ordinary tools, organic matter, with the help of the community, we will sculpt it into the armor that historically protected Houston’s geological epidermis and gave life to its keystone species — the Coastal Prairie ecosystem. The title of this found object sculpture is Symbiosis. Over time Symbiosis we will morph into not only a landscape but also a soundscape that changes kinetically with the seasons.

Lawndale’s Mary E. Bawden Sculpture Garden’s Symbiosis will be a catalyst for change. In addition, it will be functional as a contemporary art exhibition space, a piece of functional activist art as well as a healthy ecosystem/habitat: a sculpture garden that heals and honors the history of the land.

Physical Description of Piece

Once the parameters of the project more are specifically defined we will insert the specific plants, their ecological roll in the

design and define the work.

Environmental Impact

Soil scientists around the globe agree that solutions to global warming, soil erosion, water runoff, drought/flooding, loss of wildlife habitats, and species extinction are rooted in the treatment of our soil — the skin that covers our planet, which includes our residential and small business landscapes.

Restoring the native prairie vegetation increases soil absorption of water and slows floodwaters on land, decreasing water runoff. For every 1% increase per acre of biological organic material, the soil can hold an additional 20,000 gallons of water. Given Houston’s extreme building practices and concrete hardscaping, reimagining the landscapes within Houston's 600 square miles of real estate can significantly impact the region's flooding. In addition, the roots of vegetation in a coastal prairie can extend from eight to fourteen feet deep; these roots sequester and store carbon like an upside-down rainforest, cleaning our air.

Value of Location

Change can happen at lightning speed when innovation is coupled with imitation.

The current state of Lawndale's sculpture garden provides the perfect opportunity to break the mindless conformity that dominates Houston's urban gardens/yards. The sculpture garden has the feel of a perfectly manicured, traditional front yard, making its size and plant selections relatable to the general public.

With the Houston Arboretum transformations, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Buffalo Bayou, and the new Memorial Park renovation, Houstonians have awakened to the importance of native Coastal Prairie landscaping; however, those sites are enormous tracts of land. It isn't easy to visualize those landscapes outside the parks. This permanent and living metamorphosis of Lawndale’s Symbiosis will provide the 2020 vision of transformation by imitation for yards throughout Houston. It will shift mindsets by prompting Houstonians to question Houston’s urban landscaping and imagine a holistic Houston that protects the environment by balancing human, natural and economic systems.

Value for Lawndale Art Center

An art institution that looks at its community holistically to include not just a monoculture of humans but also beneficial plants, animals, and micro-organisms will be groundbreaking. Symbiosis will cultivate a medley of life that historically has defined the place, has impacted its economy and attracted its people. Lawndale’s Symbiosis will leverage this endangered knowledge with a living site-specific art installation that provides the artistic vision that changes hearts and minds. It will connect the history of the land to contemporary art. Using additive and subtractive sculpting techniques and nature the Symbiosis of the Mary E. Bawden sculpture garden will become a living love letter from our past to our future.

Ecological impact of Houston

With 2.3 million people living on a footprint of 600 square miles, close to the Gulf of Mexico, located along the migratory bird pathway, Houston is an urban wildlife sanctuary.
Changing Houston's ecology will profoundly impact our oceans, human life, wildlife, and microbial environmental health. Let’s not miss this unprecedented opportunity and heal the skin of the planet and our people.

Installation Process

The beauty of this piece is to have it be a catalyst for inspiring homeowners and businesses to imitate the change and heal their landscapes too. We will Involve the community to take on an active role in the transformation. Installation of the piece will engage and educate the community in ways to be defined after specifics of the piece are worked out.

Lawndale after one of our early Symbiosis meetings.

Beautiful new fence and Jasmine and crepe Myrtles.

Olive trees, African Iris, Dwarf Yupon Holly, Gardenias, Asian Jasmine, Crepe Myrtles -6 very popular landscape elements across Houston.

Will’s and my found object — Lawndale Art Center, Mary E. Bawden Sculpture Garden