Trash Fest!

Recently I was fortunate enough to be approached by Margot Becker (with the help of Wired Gallery) to be a part of Trash Fest (Ulster County) and paint a couple murals at the Marbletown Transfer Station

TRASH FEST is a series of events, to take place in June 2016 in Marbletown, in Ulster County, to: 1) Engage the public in a range of art projects created out of trash by artists of various disciplines 2) Educate the public on reduce/reuse strategies for dealing with trash, and 3) Generate a conversation about our trash in Ulster County and how we can better deal with it

These are the two walls I will be painting over the course of the next two weeks

TRASH FEST currently consists of the following: • Large scale sculpture made of trash will be on exhibition at the Marbletown Waste Transfer Station in High Falls for the full month of June: Margot R. Becker, Alex Lyle, Skip LaPlante, Bill Ylitalo, and others! • Small scale sculpture and hung art made of trash will be on exhibition at Marbletown Multi-Arts (MAMA), an indoor community art space, for all or part of June. • We are reaching out to the Stone Ridge Library as an additional space for small scale art and/or literary workshops for the public. I want to post quotes from great writers about trash and possibly install some of my tiny sculpture behind library books. • Events and Concerts: —At the opening event for TRASH FEST at the Transfer Station, we believe Marbletown Executive, Mike Warren, will be signing a voluntary Plastic Straw Resolution, in which Marbletown businesses and residents are asked to reduce the number of plastic straw they use in their drinks. There may also be other performers. —A concert is planned in the evening of Sunday June 5th (or maybe earlier in the weekend) at the Rail Trail Café, a seasonal eating-and-performing space located by the side of the Rail Trail, an alternative transportation artery for walking and biking (yay--no cars). —Potentially, a standard art opening event will open the exhibition at MAMA. —Other events may be added. —All events will be zero waste. • Social Media: The public is invited to post photos of trash, creative reuse of re-sourced materials, and/or art made of re-sourced materials via an Instagram project (more coming soon!) • Arts Workshops for the Public: We are seeking more artists to run these. • Waste Management Workshops and Events for the Public: —Cornell Cooperative Extension will be holding a workshop on composting and using yard waste as a soil amendment on June 18th at the Cornell community Garden located at SUNY Ulster Community College in Marbletown. —I am very excited that the Marbletown Environmental Conservation Commission (ECC) will be holding its public forum on fees/bans on single use bags as part of TRASH FEST. The goal is to spur discussion so that the Township can institute a fee on all single use plastic and paper bags. The goal of the public forum is to educate and bring the community to consensus. —More to come! TRASH FEST is the brain child of NYS and Ulster County resident, Margot R. Becker, a writer, collage artist, community arts organizer, former dancer, and solid waste management activist. Margot is a member of the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (MSWAB) and the Marbletown Environmental Conservation Commission (ECC). This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson. TRASH FEST is sponsored by League of Women Voters Mid-Hudson Region (LWVMHR) and by the Marbletown Environmental Conservation Commission (ECC).