Enlivening our Urban Landscape and Citizenry with Nature-themed Art: Renewing Our Relationship to Nature and Culture

By:

“Artists to my mind are the real architects of change”. --William S. Burroughs

This provocative interactive multi-media presentation, resulting from decades of studying ancient and contemporary cultures, includes earth-related artistic visuals, narratives, music, film, and lecture. There will be an exploration of the great importance narrative art has in guiding and influencing the direction of humanity by affecting the way we think and act. Throughout time the arts have helped people expand the way they see the world. As one of the world’s few female allegorical monument makers, Osprey Orielle Lake is the founder/artist of the International Cheemah and Mari Monument Projects, which celebrate multicultural and environmental theme through public art. Osprey will address how symbols, images and language are used in the public sphere to either enhance, or distance, our relationships with the Earth and each other. A major theme will be the way in which honoring of cultural differences, integrated with appreciation for nature, can create a sense of belonging and connection, both locally and globally. In a global economy where the earth is often viewed as a commodity, it is essential to make a change in this perspective. One way to do this is through the placement of nature-themed public art that allows us to enhance positive human-nature relationships. In this presentation, stories and images of land-based societies will be included along with ways to integrate this longstanding knowledge into a modern context with technology, urban life and international strife. Public art has historically provided cohesion to communities as it represents the experiences, legacy, philosophies and aesthetics of a particular culture. Appreciating the arts as a critical tool in societal transformation, Osprey combines contemporary and ancient images into meaningful statements about caring for our earth, our communities, and our future.

Stream: Other

Paper: Enlivening our Urban Landscape and Citizenry with Nature-themed Art

Osprey Orielle Lake is an internationally renowned artist with a lifetime interest in diverse philosophies, indigenous worldviews and environmental sustainability. In her presentations and work in bronze sculptures and monuments she combines contemporary and ancient images into meaningful statements about caring for our earth, our communities, and our future. One of the world’s few female allegorical monument makers, Osprey is the founder/artist of the International Cheemah and Mari Monument Projects, which celebrate environmental and multicultural themes. Three monuments have already been placed – in Germany, Spain and the United States. Her works reflect a global consciousness and a positive vision of choice through focusing on nature-themed public art which can renew and enhance a contemporary human/nature relationship. Exhibiting, teaching and lecturing in the U.S. and abroad, Osprey endeavors to inspire others to appreciate the arts as a critical tool in societal transformation. She is the co-founder of Living Earth Media.
www.cheemahproject.org
www.mariproject.org