Artists Show Concern for Environment at Smithsonian Craft Show
The United Nations says more than one million plant and animal species are likely to die out because of human activity. That threat the environment and concerns about climate change influenced people attending the Smithsonian Craft Show last month. The show gave recognition to artists (create) environmentally sustainable works.
The Smithsonian Committee is made up of volunteers from the Washington, D.C. area. Joann Symons is the group's president. "In recent years, we've noticed that the artists in our shows have been working with more renewable materials and methods are environmentally safe. That's we've decided that we will reward those efforts by offering a Sustainability Award every year at our show," said Symons.
At the show last month, 120 artists from across the United States presented works of art in 12 different materials. Twenty-one artists met the requirements for sustainability. By doing so, they won the right (compete) for the Honoring the Future Sustainability Award. The winner received a prize of 1,000 dollars.
Mary Jaeger creates her works of art in a nearly 100-year-old factory building in Brooklyn, New York. She makes artworks that be worn as clothing. It combines the time-honored qualities of Japanese textiles with modern Western designs. Jaeger won the "Honoring the Future Sustainability Award" for her silk creations. She makes them by hand, combining earlier projects with materials (leave) over. The artist said, " I look at these beautiful silks that I have acquired over the years of designing, I wanted to repurpose them into something that was truly beautiful, but completely different than the original product..."
Fran Dubrowski (head) Honoring the Future, a nonprofit organization that provides the sustainability award. She said the group (set) up to take advantage of the power of art to educate and engage the public on climate change.
