Welcome to Egg Rock: 50 Years of Seabird Conservation
WELCOME TO EGG ROCK SHOWCASES PUFFINS’ PERSPECTIVE ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN IMMERSIVE INSTALLATION
“This is an exhibit of hope, where the actions of a few scientists changed the outcomes of seabirds forever. Art can communicate to people of all ages and backgrounds to understand this powerful story and contemplate their own actions for the future of seabirds,” said Pippin Frisbie-Calder.
The Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest-warming bodies of water on earth, and seabirds are struggling to find the fish they rely on for food as a result. This project highlights the triumph of puffins’ return to their historic nesting range on Eastern Egg Rock, as well as the care and collective action needed to ensure their long-term success in the face of climate change.
“At its inception, Waterfall Arts was modeled on the values of appreciation of nature and its ability to restore the spirit, and a commitment to live creatively,” said Amy Tingle, Program Director for Waterfall Arts. “This philosophy is in perfect alignment with Pippin’s project and the reason why I am so thrilled that Waterfall Arts is the first host location of this powerful, transformative exhibition.”
“The Gulf of Maine is a living laboratory already showing us the effects of climate change – effects that will ultimately be seen throughout the world” said Don Lyons, Director of Conservation Science for Audubon’s Seabird Institute. “Pippin’s Welcome to Egg Rock showcases a critical conservation message and provides an uplifting opportunity to act now and promote change that benefits seabirds in the Gulf of Maine and beyond.”
Today, Audubon’s Seabird Institute continues the legacy of Project Puffin. The program trains young biologists on seven seabird nesting colonies along Maine’s coast each summer. Social attraction and other seabird restoration and conservation techniques developed on these islands have been used to benefit rare and endangered seabirds all over the world. Educational programs for kids, families, and adults are provided through the Project Puffin Visitor Center in Rockland, Maine and the Hog Island Audubon Camp in Bremen, Maine.
Creating Impact with Art: “Welcome to Egg Rock” Panel Discussion
May 20, 2023 — the Seabird Institute, Waterfall Arts, the artists and the scientists who created “Welcome to Egg Rock” hosted a discussion about the development and implementation of this immersive, multimedia installation. They discussed how this installation combines art, science and storytelling to inspire visitors to act on something as big and complex as climate change. Panelists shared why collaboration is important for innovation, how the team worked together on this particular project, and what impact art can have on conservation efforts. A Q&A followed. This event was free and open to the public.
Participants:
Welcome to Egg Rock Artists: Pippin Frisbie-Calder, Terri Frisbie
Seabird Institute: Don Lyons, Director of Conservation Science, Rachel Guillory Coastal Communications Manager, and Kimberly Faux Development and Communications Associate
Waterfall Arts: Amy Tingle, Program Director
About The Artists
“My work seeks to investigate ecosystems and demystify scientific outcomes, while calling into question human culpability and responsibility. Working with Microbiologists, Ornithologists and Biologists I create large-scale installations and prints exploring issues of climate change, species extinction and environmental stewardship. The materiality of printmaking reverses its subject and injects personality into every mark, transforming my drafting in different ways depending on the use of wood, collagraph or screen. The specificity of science requires reimagining my print practice and changes my methodology in service to ornithology, or ecology. The work I am happiest with always finds a balance between printmaking, science and draftsmanship, unifying to tell big picture stories about humanity’s complicated relationship with nature.”
Her prints and installations have been shown widely around New Orleans, most prominently as a solo show at the New Orleans Contemporary Art Center. She has also exhibited at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Michigan, Biennale Internationale d’estampe contemporaine, Canada, Indonesia, Denver, Maine, South Carolina and Rhode Island. She has held residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center, A Studio in the Woods, Big Cypress National Preserve, Jakmel Ekspresyon, Haiti and AS220. She received her MFA in printmaking from Tulane University in 2017 and her BFA with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008. She was the Artist-in-Residence at Waterfall Arts in September 2022.
To get in touch, please email pippinfrisbie@gmail.com
She is currently represented by LeMieux Galleries: 332 Julia St, New Orleans
Waterfall Arts’ Clifford Gallery Hours
Tuesday through Friday, 10a-5p
Saturday, 11a-3p
Closed Sunday and Monday
All Waterfall Arts exhibitions are free and open to the public.
About Waterfall Arts
Launched in 2000, Waterfall Arts is a community arts center that offers resources to arts enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. We welcome the public to engage in the arts through classes, exhibitions, art events, performances, public art projects, open studios (in clay, glass, print, and darkroom photography) and more.
In September, Waterfall Arts welcomed multidisciplinary artist and environmental activist Pippin Frisbie-Calder as our artist-in-residence. During her residency, which focused on humanity’s complicated relationship with nature, Pippin carved and printed works using our printing press. Frisbie-Calder also led a printmaking workshop and taught a month-long course for students from the Belfast Community Outreach Program in Education. The BCOPE students explored climate change by selecting a locally threatened or extinct species and then designing and carving a linocut print. Welcome to Egg Rock: 50 Years of Seabird Conservation will be the culmination of Pippin’s residency with Waterfall Arts, a program exemplary of the work we do to support artists who are doing meaningful work with the community and for the community.
Learn how to engage at waterfallarts.org or on social media at @waterfallarts. For more information, call 207-338-2222 or contact Amy Tingle at amy@waterfallarts.org.
About Audubon
The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon’s vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization.
The National Audubon Society started Project Puffin in 1973 in an effort to learn how to restore puffins to historic nesting islands in the Gulf of Maine. Today, Project Puffin refers to the active seabird restoration programs for puffins and other Maine seabirds as well as many public education programs. In Maine and beyond, Project Puffin is also known as Audubon’s Seabird Restoration Program as it actively works to share restoration methods to benefit rare and endangered seabirds worldwide while building a culture of seabird conservation and appreciation.
Learn more how to help at audubon.org and follow us on Twitter and instagram at @audubonsociety.
Full Press Release – Click to Access
Contact: Amy Tingle, Waterfall Arts, amy@waterfallarts.org
Images and Videos – Click to Access
By downloading images you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity of Waterfall Arts’ current and upcoming exhibitions, programs, and news announcements. The images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as they appear in the captions and credits document, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.