TMTTR collaborated on a unique project in New Orleans with Octavia Art Gallery, KID smART, and four prominent, local artists. The project included an outreach program with young students, an art collaboration between TMTTR artists and NOLA artists (Jenna Bonistalli, Jeffrey Pitt, Allison Stewart, and Michel Varisco), and an exhibition at Octavia Art Gallery.  Two weeks before the exhibition opening, the TMTTR artists (from Chile, France, Germany, Jamaica, Pakistan, and the United States) embarked on an outreach project and worked on a collaborative piece of art with the NOLA artists. The outreached project, coordinated with KIDsmART, involved a workshop with youth from the Akili Academy, which resulted in artwork which also was displayed at Octavia Gallery.

In 2014 nine artist members of Take Me to the River and six Uruguayan artists exchanged ideas and expanded visual concepts to create a water themed project entitled, Inmersion, in Montevideo. The Uruguayan Ministry of Tourism declared the project of “National Interest” and the initiative was supported by the Iturria Foundation. The culmination of the interchange resulted in several components, including a singular, large-scale modular artwork featuring the integration of all the artists’ creativity as a collaborative group, an exhibition, as well as a community workshop for visually impaired citizens, using special paints.

CURATORS

The city of Aix-en-Provence – in association with the 6th World Water Forum, held in nearby Marseille – hosted an exhibition entitled “Le Temps de l’Eau – Take Me to the River” at the Musee des Tapisseries. This exhibition brought together a group of 21 artists of different cultures and backgrounds, whose work underscores the importance of water and the preservation of this vital natural resource.

Installations, video projections, photography, and paintings illustrated that water’s critical role in everyone’s existence.

From the Roman “Aquae Sextiae” to the Modern “Ville d’Eau,” a powerful bond exists between the city of “Aix-en-Provence” and Water. For centuries the city has collected, channeled, and diverted water through its famous fountains which enchants millions of residents and visitors with their delicate music.

Whether dormant, transparent, shimmering, clear, soiled, gushing, or stagnant – Water is the source of life, creation, and above all, a legacy we must preserve and transmit to future generations.

PDF Catalogue France

Deidre Saunder, “Out of the Amniotic Sea”, 2011

In 2010 TMTTR was invited by the Art Program of the University of Maryland University College, located just outside Washington, DC, to stage a community program and exhibition for Fall, 2011. In response, TMTTR developed a multifaceted project involving professional poets, senior citizens, and young African-American boys.

For this project TMTTR partnered with two regional arts-related community service organizations: Arts For The Aging (AFTA), which provides older adults with arts experiences, and Life Pieces To Masterpieces (LPMP), which uses art as a means to foster the personal growth of at-risk African-American boys. Two well-established poets, Kim Roberts and Dan Vera, based in Washington, DC, were invited to conduct a series of 8 poetry workshops at AFTA and LPMP, with project artists in attendance. During the workshops, which began in January, 2011, the older and younger participants created poetry which referenced water.

In May, 2011, each of the 18 visual artists participating in the project was given a poem which had been created in the workshops. The poems served as an inspiration, or point of departure, for the artists in the creation of a work of art. The two poets also contributed poems.

As with all TMTTR projects, several regional artists were invited to join the permanent artist members of TMTTR for the project. Five artists living in the Washington, DC, region were invited; these artists were originally from Chile, China, Jamaica, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Additionally, an artist from France was invited to participate.

The artists created their work with whatever media they wished, which included oil, and acrylic paint, drawing, photography, digital imagery, glass, and collage. All the work was then converted to large-scale digital prints, providing a unity to the presentation of the work. For the exhibition, the poems were displayed next to their respective artwork. The exhibition also included paintings on the theme of water by the young workshop participants from Life Pieces To Masterpieces. The exhibition opened in November, 2011.

The project received significant media coverage, including a major article in the Washington Post.

view the Exhibit catalog

view the Washington Post article

view the on-line exhibition

In March, 2009, TMTTR partnered with the Turkish arts organization Tutun Deposu to stage an exhibition at DEPO Gallery and conduct a community event in Istanbul.  As this TMTTR project was an official part of the 5th World Water Forum being held in Istanbul at the same time, TMTTR staged a one-day event with Istanbul schoolchildren which reflected various themes associated with the World Water Forum. On the day of the exhibition opening over 100 neighborhood schoolchildren gathered outside the gallery. The children were told about basic issues concerning water in easily understood terms, and given leaflets about water issues to distribute to adults in the neighborhood. After this, with music provided by Turkish musicians, a piece of blue transparent fabric, 15 meters in length, was brought out.The schoolchildren created a line under the blue fabric and then marched through their neighborhood as a “flowing river.”