Thursday, January 21st
5pm social hour, 6pm presentation
Location - Art Lab
239 Linden Street, Fort Collins, CO
Linny Frickman, Founding director and chief curator of the new University Art Museum at Coloradoan State University presents:
The Fundred Dollar Bill Project
Last spring the opening of the new University Art Museum was marked by a lecture from visiting artist Mel Chin. Chin, an artist and activist, spoke about his new project called OPERATION PAYDIRT/FUNDRED which supports implementing a solution to lead-related health issues challenging post-disaster New Orleans. Chin was selected as the keynote speaker because of his life-long commitment to visual arts as a catalyst for social justice and environmental activism, alongside his conviction that artists should be politically engaged, responsible citizens.
Director of the University Art Museum, Linny Frickman, will present Chin’s project, place it in the context of his environmental work, and invite everyone to participate in the interactive FUNDRED project.
Shortly following the devastating storm, Chin was asked to visit New Orleans. His earlier project, Revival Field, a landmark in environmental art, had pioneered methods of removing toxins from Superfund Sites. Initially at a loss as to what an artist could do to address the enormity of the disaster, Chin continued his explorations, discovering a problem that plagued New Orleans before the storm had even hit; New Orleans is one of the most lead polluted cities in the United States, exposing thousands of children to lead poisoning with devastating results ranging from disease and learning disabilities to behavioral problems linked to violent crime. The opportunity to rebuild after Katrina also offered the opportunity to address this environmental scourge.
Chin devised the The FUNDRED DOLLAR BILL PROJECT, an innovative artwork made of millions of drawings from around the country. In Fort Collins, Rocky Mountain High School is taking the lead to contribute to this project. This creative collective action is intended to support OPERATION PAYDIRT, an extraordinary art/science project uniting three million participants with educators, scientists, health care professionals, designers, urban planners, engineers and artists. Together they are working to make safe the lead polluted soil of New Orleans…..Once FUNDRED reaches its goal of 3 million artworks, a specially retrofitted armored truck, running on straight vegetable oil, will be deployed across the nation to pick up the 7,000 lbs. of FUNDRED DOLLAR drawings. FUNDRED guards driving the armored truck will deliver the art currency to Washington D.C., where we will request from Congress an “even exchange” of 300,000,000 FUNDRED DOLLARS for $300,000,000 in funds and services to support the implementation of OPERATION PAYDIRT’S solution to lead-related health and quality-of-life issues still challenging post-disaster New Orleans.” Chin’s project is ingenious because it combines public awareness, education, and creative activity with a sound scientific protocol and plan. Already a proven leader in pioneering creative solutions, Chin invites us all to collaborate on this important endeavor.
While Chin was in Fort Collins for the opening of the University Art Museum he met with over 1500 students at Rocky Mountain High School, Boltz Middle School, and Bennett and Tavelli Elementary Schools. Students created their own FUNDRED DOLLAR bills and Rocky Mountain High School became an official pick-up site for the FUNDRED truck.
Linny Frickman is the founding director and chief curator of the new University Art Museum at Colorado State University. Prior to this she was the director of the Clara Hatton Gallery in the Department of Art. She has taught art history at Colorado State since 1987 with an emphasis in modern and contemporary art practice. Frickman began her museum career at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Menil Collection. At CSU she has organized and curated multiple art historical and contemporary exhibitions and has directed the Critic and Artist Residency Series.
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