the Chemicals are safe

Response To Marcellus Shale HydroFracting Consequences By Gas Drilling Companies in Upstate New York and Pennsylvania

Mixed-media installation: cardboard mailing tubes, paper cutouts, fabric dolls, sand, plastic and metal paint cans, liquid watercolor - 2010

With a science background that probably ended with one required  Syracuse University  course in Genetics in 1958, I recently found myself immersed in chemistry inquiry with researching over the internet, visiting the Georgia Tech Library, and listening to a video about endocrine interruptions. This new interest in a world unfamiliar to me grew because of what I learned about the threat of gas drilling hydraulic fracting consequences that could adversely affect the water supply, air, and the health in the community  I used to call home – Binghamton, New York.  The mantra being said by those companies who do the gas drilling, that “the chemicals are safe” ,is countered by the majority of the public who for many reasons, prefer to ignore this issue. I see my small installation mixed-media work as a “conversation starter”, to perhaps begin a dialogue of facts, information, and truth with a goal to empower those in government to make the right decision for today, and for future generations but also to awaken the public to do their own research, as I did, to learn more about this critical issue of our time. We can make a difference.

This work is part of a group exhibition, EARTHSTEWARDS Coalition Art Show: Artists Respond to Drilling The Marcellus Shale, February 5-March 5, 2010, City Plaza Gallery at Binghamton City Hall, 2nd floor, Hawley Street – Binghamton, NY 13901. Gallery Hours: Mon. – Fri. 9AM – 5PM Exhibition continued to the Cortland Memorial Library, Cortland, NY April 4-28,2010 and then traveled to the SeenUnseen Gallery, 77 Main St.- Oneonta, NY May 7-May 29,2010.

To see a video from Channel 10 News in Binghamton< NY February,2010
http://news10now.com/all-regions-news-2133-content/top_stories/?ArID=495407

To read more about the exhibition at SUNY Cortland Memorial Library, April 2010
http://www2.cortland.edu/news/detail.dot?id=211003