art.earth

In 2015, CCANW was approached by Dr Richard Povall to become part of a family of like-minded ecological artists and organisations at Dartington where Schumacher College was intending to deliver a new MA Arts and Ecology course. (see Locations: Dartington Hall).

CCANW signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Schumacher College in November but unfortunately the course did not go ahead. Following this set-back, Richard organised an important arts summit Language, Landscape and the Sublime at Dartington Hall and Sharpham House in June 2016, and registered art.earth as a Community Interest Company (CIC) in October.

art.earth did not have a base on the Dartington Estate (by choice) and so, whilst continuing to work on the Estate and in partnership with CCANW it became separated from its association with Schumacher College. The primary intention of art.earth was to create a family of like-minded people and organisations, a network for artists working alone and to develop thinking and theory.

At the start of 2017, a new art.earth+CCANW membership scheme was initiated, growing to 118 members by Christmas 2018, at which time their mailing list had grown to 3,750. A new Associates Scheme was also started. Nominations for Associate Artists and Curators were made in May and it was launched in October with a meeting at Dartington of Associates, for which we were able to cover travelling expenses.

A group of RANE Associate Researchers also met and it was hoped that they might create a network of art and ecology organisations. At the time that CCANW was dissolved in March 2020, there were 17 Associate Artists and Curators listed. These comprised 11 curators; Bergit Arends, Maria Rebecca Ballestra, Laura Coleman, Alfredo Cramerotti, Lara Goodband, Angela Kingston, Rosemarie McGoldrick, Yasmine Ostendorf, James Putnam, Veronica Sekules, Ela Spalding and 6 artists; Rohini Devasher, Jane Le Besque, Elizabeth Ogilvie, Amy Sharrocks, Amy Shelton and Marina Velez.

Associate Curator Maria Rebecca Ballestra died later that year, but it was through her that Clive had made a presentation at her Festival for the Earth in Venice in 2016 and this had led to our involvement in the Global Network of Water Museums. She was also responsible for hosting the Science Walden presentation at the Festival in 2018.

As no more funding was available, no further physical meetings of Associates were held but smaller meetings were held online, continuing into the period of Covid 2021-22.

In 2018 CCANW was listed by Artists and Climate Change as being one of the top 10 most pioneering art/sustainability initiatives in the UK, and was on the final shortlist of three – along with River Cottage – for the People Environment Award (PEA) awarded in association with Octopus Energy.

A number of funding options for major projects began to be explored, all of which involved a degree of international and interdisciplinary working. These included a Water Culture programme, one to mark the centenary of the Forestry Commission in 2019, another on the occasion of the World Congress of Soil Science in 2022, another to develop collaboration with existing contacts in South Korea, and one involving a linking of arts programmes at botanic gardens. Richard took over the keeping of accounts. During this time, as art.earth developed, it began a series of monthly First Friday meetings of artists at Dartington.

Article in The Environment