Catalyst Initiative ROUND 3
Kimi Eisele, a multi-disciplinary artist worked with Brian Powell
from the Pima County’s Office of Sustainability and Conservation and Claire Zugmeyer from the Sonoran Institute in Tucson, Arizona. Their work together focused on a shared interest in the natural world and Kimi’s skills in visual storytelling and site-responsive performance to explore how an artist, a non-profit, and a municipal agency can use imaginative and delightful strategies to engage community members to visit a site of renewal in Tucson: the Santa Cruz River. Their story over a year of collaboration is one of thoughtful communication, creative problem solving, overcoming institutional challenges, and exploring playful strategies to celebrate the life of a river and the return of an endangered fish.
Tucson
CENTER FOR PERFORMANCE AND CIVIC PRACTICE
Question —How can an artist use her skills as a maker, facilitator, and creative problem solver to co-design an engagement strategy for a non-profit organization and a county office focused on conservation and sustainability?
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THE PARTNERS
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THE IMPULSE
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THE RETURN OF THE GILA TOPMINNOW
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THE PLAN
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THE PROCESS | THE PROJECT
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DISCOVERIES
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RIPPLES
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REFLECTIONS
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The Partners
Kimi Eisele
Claire Zugmeyer
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Brian Powell
Kimi Eisele is a Tucson-based writer, dancer/ choreographer, director, and visual artist. Her work explores human-nature interactions and the sensual world of plants and animals. She has directed multiple dance/theatre projects exploring issues such as endangered species, water, urban revitalization, and food systems. Her most recent work, ‘Standing with Saguaros’, was a yearlong project using participatory activities, innovative storytelling, and site-responsive performances to commemorate the National Park Service Centennial and the saguaro cactus. Kimi’s writing has been published in Orion, Manifest-Station, HowlRound, OnEarth, RiverTeeth, FourthGenre, and elsewhere. Her debut novel, The Lightest Object in the Universe, about love, loss, and adaptation in a postapocalyptic America, was published by Algonquin Press in 2019. Kimi also makes photographs, papercuttings, and shadow puppet theater about wildlife, and the human body. She has been a resident artist at Djerassi, Blue Mountain Center, the Mesa Refuge, the Rasmuson Resident Artist Program in Sitka, AK, and Saguaro National Park. She is the recipient of a “Lumie” Award for Established Artist from the Southern Arizona Arts Foundation, Arizona Artist Project Award from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kresge Foundation, and elsewhere. She works as a writer/editor for the Southwest Folklife Alliance, which celebrates the everyday expressions of culture, heritage and diversity in the Greater Southwest. Brian Powell is currently working in Pima County’s Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation department assisting the management of the County’s 250,000+ acres of open space and parks. During this project, Brian was with the County Office of Sustainability and Conservation, which works throughout the County and with partners to promote management and monitoring of our Sky Island ecoregion.
T H E PA R T N E R S
Brian is involved with a number of place-based initiatives such as cross-jurisdictional watershed planning groups and a collaborative research and outreach effort (along with Claire) studying how improved water quality in the Santa Cruz River is affecting the aquatic life and the public’s engagement with this resource. Brian is also an avid photographer, potter, and father. This project fit nicely with Brian’s interest in art, science, and public engagement. Claire Zugmeyer is the lead ecologist and project manager for the Santa Cruz River projects. Joining Sonoran Institute in 2007, she leads a variety of efforts including production of the Living River series that summarizes river conditions, monitoring fish and other parameters along the river, and organization of the annual Santa Cruz River Research Days, an event promoting collaboration and awareness of regional research and conservation efforts. She completed a Master of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology at the University of Arizona, a Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has worked on a variety of research and management projects focusing on birds, mammals, fish and amphibians, including Arizona’s endangered Mt. Graham red squirrel. The Sonoran Institute’s mission is to connect people and communities with the natural resources that nourish and sustain them. It works at the nexus of commerce, community, and conservation to help people in the North American West build the communities they want to live in while preserving the values that brought them here. Sonoran Institute envisions a West where civil dialogue and collaboration are hallmarks of decision making, where people and wildlife live in harmony, and where clean water, air, and energy are assured.
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The Impulse The Santa Cruz River is integral to Pima County and Tucson. Indigenous people began farming its nearby floodplain 4,000 years ago. Since the 1920s pumping, dredging, and cementing of the Santa Cruz has left it mostly dry and barren. In the 1970s, Pima County began to release treated wastewater (effluent) to the river. Although this water helped the growth of a ribbon of riparian vegetation that needs regular access to water, over time the quality of the water was not high enough to support much aquatic life. In 2013, Pima County spent over $600 million to upgrade the wastewater treatment facilities that discharge to the Santa Cruz River. Since then, various Pima County departments has been working with the Sonoran Institute to document changes to the aquatic environment and human use of the area. In this time, the river went from hosting one species of fish to six. Hundreds of people now visit this stretch of the river each day, in part because the strong smell of ammonia and methane no longer define that section of the river. Many people can access the river via the Chuck Huckelberry Loop, a new 100-mile multi-use path. But for much of the Tucson community, these changes have largely gone unnoticed, even though the now high-quality water being discharged to the river creates a natural space supportive of both environmental and community health. The Sonoran Institute (SI) annually creates reports about the health of the river, but these mainly reach residents with scientific interests. Together with the Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation (PCOSC), these two organizations were interested in discovering community engagement strategies that go beyond the linear processes traditionally used to reach out to residents. Kimi Eisele had previously worked with SI and PCOSC on two different projects using performance and poetry to highlight local conservation issues. She was eager to dive into a deeper collaboration and co-design process with these partners to explore how to bring expanded attention to the significant changes in the river.
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IMPULSE
“Life has begun to return to the river, and so too have the people. We want the public to see and experience the benefit of this living river.� Brian
IMPULSE
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The Return Of The Gila Topminnow “We have some good news from our little stretch of flowing river in the desert; a wee tiny endangered fish called the Gila topminnow has been discovered in the Santa Cruz River in relatively significant numbers. And now we have a main character for our story.� Kimi
The Gila topminnow was one of the most common fish in the Santa Cruz River ecosystem for thousands of years. But in 1943, it disappeared from the river. In 1967, the Gila topminnow was put on the list of endangered species. In recent years the release of highly treated wastewater (effluent) has created a lush ribbon of flowing water and riparian green extending over 23 miles. In 2013 when Pima County upgraded its wastewater reclamation facilities, the treated wastewater brought back diverse aquatic wildlife (including five fish species), reduced odors, increased wildlife habitat, improved flood control, and created a place for human recreation. In the fall of 2017, the annual fish survey that Sonoran Institute coordinates found Gila topminnows in the lower Santa Cruz River for the first time in decades. The return of the Gila topminnows is significant, as it becomes a step towards downgrading the species of fish from “endangered” to “threatened”, and is a sign that the river itself is regaining its health. − return of the Gila topminnow = a healthier river − a healthier river = a healthier water supply − a healthier water supply = a healthier community
THE IMPULSE
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The Plan
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T H ET HI M E PPUL LASNE
The Catalyst Initiative cohort convened for two days in December 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. Kimi, Brian, and Claire all attended together. At the convening, they deepened initial conversations about potential ideas they had envisioned together, including poetic signage along the Loop river path, eco-bike rides, and “pop-up” dinners or performances. After the convening, they had a few additional conversations, and Kimi and Brian took a bike ride along the river path to explore further possibilities. In these meet-ups, an initial plan began to form. “We have landed on an initial idea which feels really exciting and raises questions about engagement. We’re thinking of creating a stencil for bike path itself with imagery of the Gila topminnow to hopefully help people start to understand that this little fish is part of a whole system. Part of our challenge will be getting clearance from the county, figuring out what that would cost to bring a visual representation of the fish on the bike path. With this is the potential for many different engagement activities either on the painting of the fish or the unveiling of it. We’re thinking about how to connect the fish to the urban environment of downtown Tucson as well.” Kimi
“The return of this fish is really significant, it hasn’t been in the Tucson area for over 70 years.” Claire
THE PLAN
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The Process | The Project
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THE PROCESS / THE PROJECT
As the plan began to emerge, Kimi, Brian, and Claire strategized about engaging residents. − What do we personally bring to this work? − Which residents do we hope to reach? − Do we want to reach residents who already use the path, such as birders
and cyclists? − Do we want to go beyond the immediate geographic area? − Do we want to bring in residents who already have an interest in nature and science? − Do we want to connect with the more urban residents of Tucson who might not even know about the changes in the river? If yes, how? − Can we use mystery as a strategy to excite curiosity in residents to discover more about the Gila topminnow? “My artist’s brain wants to create a mystery around this fish, but my educator’s brain wants to make sure people learn about it.” Kimi
“Can this project become a way for a larger number of people to become aware of the changes in the river itself?” Claire
“We really want to pique people’s interest, and then give them more information; maybe initial messages that say, “I saw that fish.” It brings up the question, who do we want to know this information? If we go for the low-hanging fruit, it’s the people who use the bike path, but that won’t reach a broad demographic. It would be valuable to dig a little deeper to find how to engage other folks.” Brian
“If we go for the farthest fruit, these are people outside of the geographic area, but also people who don’t have an active interest in the river and its species. The next branch down would be people who do care and are interested, but don’t know what the river has to offer.” Kimi THE PROCESS / THE PROJECT
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While still considering the potential audiences for this project, the partners began to solidify details of the project, which included ideas for artwork on the Loop bike path by the river as well as sharing artwork about the fish in other parts of the city of Tucson. “The project is moving along nicely and we have received a significant endorsement from the Regional Flood Control District to paint the Gila topminnow (our messenger) onto the Loop Bike path.” Brian
“I'm thrilled that we got approval from the County to move forward with stencil-painting the Gila topminnow fish along the bike path. I've done a preliminary sketch for that and am now working on additional drafts. I'm also excited by our idea to also bring the fish to other parts of the city, where there is no river. We brainstormed some ways to take the design and minimize it, our ‘ghost’ in areas far from the water... but with enough identifying marks (outline, say) to let folks see and recognize it. A kind of invitation to see the ‘whole enchilada,’ er, topminnow, along the path near the water.” Kimi
T H ET HI M E PPUL LASNE
In the early stages of the process, they began to experience challenges. “I struggle with finding enough time to give enough attention to all the various projects I’m working on. I knew this was going to be a challenge going in for this project. So trying to match what I would like to do with what I have time to do is hard. We’ve been considering applying for some additional funds for this effort, or for a follow-up piece…but at the same time I don’t know that we’ve detailed out enough of the timeline and exactly what we’re doing when/where to make a strong proposal to meet the deadlines. We’ve made a lot of progress…but sometimes opportunities/deadlines just don’t line up well…and it’s hard to decide when to commit to adding another ball to the juggling act, or to just say we’re not ready yet.” Claire
“One challenge I have is thinking about the scope of the project, i.e. what is doable given our funds and timeline and what might lie beyond this particular phase of the project. To that end, I also wonder about how we want to define ‘engagement’ for the project. Is a gathering to ‘unveil’ the fish with some sort of celebration enough of a first-contact engagement? What happens next?” Kimi
“We’ve encountered some regulatory issues around our messenger [the topminnow] and the ability of the Regional Flood Control District to do work in the river. This has the potential for the community to be more concerned about the fate of the topminnow and the Flood Control to be not so excited about the fish. Lots of moving pieces that I hope will be worked out very soon.” Brian
THE PROCESS / THE PROJECT
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In March of 2018, while Kimi, Claire, and Brian were deep in the planning process, Michael Rohd and Sara Sawicki from the Center for Performance and Civic Practice visited the team in Tucson. During the visit, they toured the Loop bike path along the river and used the time together to continue conceptualization of the scale of the project, what they should attempt to do given their capacity and resources, and brainstorm “who” they want to impact and what outcomes they are hoping for with this project. − Who is this for and why? − What type of information about the river and the fish do we
want to share? − What type of experience would we like to offer? − What are the challenges of bringing residents to the path from farther neighborhoods?
“We’re getting closer to having a clear sense of who this is for. We have to keep jumping back to our goals and who we think is our target audience. 5000 people might see the stencil on the path, but how many of those people would we want to really know about the fish?” Brian
“We’re talking about how to direct people to learning more while still maintaining the integrity of the fish. My artist brain is like no hashtag, but my educator brain is thinking maybe that’s what we need.” Kimi
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THE PROCESS / THE PROJECT
It became clearer with more conversation that, based on the scale and available resources, the primary audience for this project is residents who use the path, with a goal for residents in nearby neighborhoods to bring more people to the river. The team planned three initial public events to take place along the river path, two in the spring and one in the fall. With more conversation, the team discovered that these events wanted to be less performative and more of a facilitated journey. With a more defined idea of which residents the team hoped to engage for this project, Kimi spent time exploring what information might accompany the stenciled images of the topminnow.
THE PROCESS / THE PROJECT
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“I have a prototype of the stencil, I know what type of paint is needed and how to source it locally. Along the lines of what’s next, I’ve been thinking about words. I’m interested in using some text or more of a poetic phrase, to give voice to the topminnow and possibly some of the other species of fish now populating the river.” Kimi
“We’ve got nothing but positive feedback so far from the folks at the county. We just need to solidify our proposal and then just do it.” Brian
“The process is rewarding and also interesting. Anybody could just go and stencil art anywhere, as people do all the time. But it’s interesting and cool that these two organizations are excited and supportive of that, and with more planning, proposals and permissions, I’m observing the difference in impact this type of collaboration has over me going down to the river by myself in my overalls overnight and just painting on my own. I’m interested in seeing what happens internally to these organizations who are going through this and doing this type of work that feels very different from what they usually do.” Kimi
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THE PROCESS / THE PROJECT
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Discoveries Kimi created a stencil of the topminnow and an accompanying series of stencils that told mini, 35-word stories of the fish. In June of 2018, the team moved forward to stencil the images onto the path along the river and in nearby neighborhoods. As they began painting on the path, they ran into additional unexpected obstacles. “I learned something about the power structures within my organization. The painted fish were characterized as graffiti; the people who manage the park are not the same people we were talking to who gave initial approval. I thought we were speaking to the right people, but I didn’t have a clear enough picture of how the different departments operate. Turned out the managers of the park weren’t down on the whole project. It was difficult as a group navigating that situation.” Brian
“We realized something valuable about internal team communications; we never did bring everyone in the organizations together for a meeting. Kimi requested that we bring folks together early in the process, but Brian and I figured we didn’t need to do it, the details of the project were still too fuzzy at the time and we wanted to be respectful of everyone’s busy schedules. Thinking now, we could have asked for a meeting, at least to say here’s the team, and here’s what each person can bring to the collaboration. I would urge for people doing this type of partnership work to meet early, bringing together all stakeholders in the process, even if it’s just to begin to understand the journey.” Claire
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D I S C OV E R I E S
D I S C OV E R I E S
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D I S C OV E R I E S
“I’m happy that we have been able to address issues as they came up. Claire and Brian put in a lot of effort to champion the project within their institutions to help smooth some things over; that’s what this type of partnership requires and I’m really grateful for that. I am learning so much on this, I felt like I had a lot of experience with community collaboration and working with other organizations before this, but what we’re trying to do here is introduce a new process and culture and that can be a challenge.” Kimi
“We at SI have our own approval process; there’s a structure in place for people to make decisions, but we are a small organization. Pima County has a much different way of approving things and you have to follow a certain protocol and we learned we didn’t exactly follow that protocol. We wanted to be a little more nimble, but we can’t always do that, which is a frustration for Kimi.” Claire
“When we learned that we couldn’t paint the story on the path, Brian really worked it so that the project could happen, it exemplified the type of creative thinking that I champion. We got a no, we worked through a process, and then there was a yes; it takes creative thinking and a person who is willing to do that. Some people might just say, ‘My boss says no.’ And that’s that.” Kimi
D I S C OV E R I E S
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After some internal conversations between Brian, Claire, and Kimi, and further conversations with park managers, they altered their initial plans. Kimi was able to paint the fish on the path without the stenciled text. They were given permission to print out 18 x 21 inch signs with the stories on it and place them along the river path. Kimi was also able to paint the fish and its story in several different locations in nearby neighborhoods. Kimi, Brian, and Claire planned several public events in June of 2018 to bring folks together to celebrate the renewed health of the river, the discovery of the fish, stories, and the artwork along the river path. These events included a gathering at a nearby bar for specialty cocktails inspired by the Gila topminnow, a bike decorating party, a bike ride along the Loop river path to view the artwork, and a riverside picnic in the area where the Gila topminnow stencils and stories were located. To get the word out about these events, Brian (through Pima County) and Claire (through Sonoran Institute) collaborated with Kimi to invite residents from within their individual networks, resulting in a mix of community members who may not have previously been connected to each other or to this type of arts and placed based project. The bike ride had to be postponed because of rain, but the other two events were well attended. One unanticipated highlight was that the project served as a “thank you� for local scientists who have spent their careers studying the Gila topminnow and other native fish. Several of them attended the events and one spoke to how the project, by generating public interest in the fish, made his work feel much more relevant to the community.
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D I S C OV E R I E S
“One of the events we planned took place at a bar that made specialty cocktails inspired by the topminnow. Our third event, a bike ride along the path, we’re rescheduling for some time this fall. Even though we’ve accomplished many of our immediate goals, this isn’t over, some really good things have spun out of it on the county side. The outgrowth is that the county has recognized the importance of the issue that this project is addressing. The first place along the river where the cleanedup water is being released, is a place that is now really starting to become more used.” Brian
“We had some bumps in the road, but we’ve been able to get past them. Things have been going really well, we had an article come out about the project that was positive. We’ve been receiving a lot of good feedback from the paintings of the Gila topminnow both on the river path and in the other neighborhoods in Tucson.” Claire Reference: https://tinyurl.com/sidewalk-art-tells-story
D I S C OV E R I E S
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D I S C OV E R I E S
D I S C OV E R I E S
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Ripples In October of 2018, Pima County offices and the Sonoran Institute released the fifth “Living River” report that documents the changes in the river from northwest Tucson to Marana and highlights the discovery of the Gila topminnow. Included in the report is a highlight of the collaborative project and a photo of Kimi painting the artwork on the Loop path. “Haven’t had a chance to explore the river yet? Now you have one more reason. Get out there and see new artwork celebrating the return of the Gila topminnow. Through a collaboration between Pima County, Sonoran Institute, and Tucson artist Kimi Eisele, the Chuck Huckelberry Loop multi-use path now features stenciled artwork of the fish and the story of its return. Ride your bike on the east side of the river, north from Speedway, to find the fish. Use #GilaTopminnow on social media to tag art and experiences along the river that celebrate the Gila topminnow.” Source: A Living River - Charting Santa Cruz River Conditions - Northwest Tucson to Marana - 2017 Water Year” https://sonoraninstitute.org/files/Living-River-Charting-Santa-Cruz-River-Conditionsnorthwest-Tucson-to-Marana-2017-Water-Year.pdf
The team used the opportunity of the report’s release to reschedule a public event to take the place of the bike ride that had been cancelled in the spring due to rain.
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RIPPLES
“It’s exciting to be able to share our project in this report. We held a report release event on the river, right at the location where water is added to the river and where Kimi's art was. We had a few people come out just for the release, but largely we talked to people who were biking along the Loop. Many of them had said they had noticed the artwork and were excited to learn more about the effort.” Claire
“Though we had some hiccups in the initial project roll out, it’s been catching on in terms of the art that’s been put down and the interest. We’re getting a lot more support in general for more art as a way to tell the story. Now everyone loves it, it’s really fun. The work is coming around to be well received.” Brian
RIPPLES
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After the project’s completion, Kimi received additional requests to share the story of the Gila topminnow through her artwork. One example of this was an invitation from Borton Elementary to share about the project with students. “Students of Micaela Jones at Borton Elementary have used the ‘Gila Topminnow Returns’ project as a model for their own research and stencils on endangered species in the Sonoran Desert. I met with them one morning for a brief talk and walk to some of the stencils in Armory Park (not far from the school). And they got to work on their own projects.” Kimi
Borton Elementary student Instagram feed: The Gila Topminnow Returns project was prominently featured on Tumamoc Hill, home of the University of Arizona Desert Laboratory. In May 2019, Kimi painted a temporary installation of the stencils and story on the paved path up the hill, exposing the story to the hundreds of people who walk there daily for exercise and desert time.
Desert Laboratory’s Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx01MOpBVkl/
RIPPLES
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Reflections “Organizationally - we wanted increased awareness of the river and the work, and the leadership of our organizations have been noticing.” Claire
“Many of the ways public art gets into country projects are facilitated through the arts council and are successful, but they are a little bit different from our type of collaboration, the co-design of something between partners vs. here’s an idea the artist has. Brian and Claire were advocating within their staffs about a certain type of process, flexibility, and risk. It can be so hard for organizations that are big or adhering to protocol to take risks, risk is really difficult. Artist brain is all about risk. That is a really powerful thing to lay out on the table.“ Kimi
“This was challenging, interesting, and fun, and honestly we wouldn’t have anything like this if we hadn’t worked with someone like Kimi. We had been talking as an organization about other ways of doing outreach and communicating the messages we’re trying to get out there and I think the Catalyst Initiative was really helpful in that, in that it helped us move in a new direction.” Claire
“It dawned on me many times throughout this process, here is this funding from outside of Tucson that is hopefully catalyzing a lot of activity within Tucson. Of course it makes me think of the larger questions, how can we create sources of funding like that here given the interest? Could this project catalyze more of this kind of work in Tucson? There already is a lot of it, but it’s underfunded. The meta question is how do we bring some of that learning to the community here?” Kimi
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REFLECTIONS
Center For Performance + Civic Practice © 2019 The Catalyst Initiative is an action research initiative — a model for supporting, advancing, and learning from innovative artist and community partner collaborations in order to reveal new possibilities for artistic contributions to community problem-solving and growth.
Written by Rebecca Martínez Designed by Tanya Rubbak Additional support by Soneela Nankani, Michael Rohd, Sara Sawicki, & Shannon Scrofano THE ANDREW W.
THECPCP.ORG TUCSON - 32
MELLON FOUNDATION