WEEDS TO WONDERS

UPG is transforming Exotic Plants into Art and useful items!

CALL for…
Artists, Sculptors, Teachers, Students & Volunteers!
* Want to use Destructive Exotic plants and trees as materials in your art and sculpture?
* Teachers & Students: Are you seeking cost-effective materials?
* Would you like to add environmental impact and awareness to your work?
* Do you want to create environmental SOLUTIONS?
* Do you want to control the whole process of your work, from material acquisition through installation?
* Are you interested in EPHEMERAL Art?
* Do you want to PROTECT Native Habitat and Native Wildlife from the plants that DESTROY them?
* Would you like to get a WORKOUT that matters?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, then you are in the RIGHT place!

CONTACT:
[email protected] to discover how you can get involved!

Be a part of it!

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The Weeds to Wonders Concept:

Transform Destructive Exotic plants into a positive force, raising public awareness and providing new perspectives on this problem through art, and creating functional objects that create tangible solutions.
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Art Basel 2011

The UPG Weeds to Wonders Partnership for AB 2011 included the State of New Mexico Art in Public Places & Will Wilson, Oleta River State Park & the Florida DEP.

Photos:
Prototype: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2055191819166.2099183.12257076…
Material Harvest: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2184743297872.2102024.12257076…
Build: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2190998094238.2102127.12257076…
Installation: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2272615374619.2103367.12257076…

We opened a new book for UPG!

About Art Basel:
Art Basel is a world-class event familiar to almost everyone in Miami.

Will Wilson:
This Navajo artist has been traveling a parallel path, and has a similar vision. His latest installation is at the Denver Botanical Garden.
His participation was sponsored by UPG Partner New Mexico Arts.

October:
UPG Volunteers began working with Will Wilson at Amelia Earhart in October to build a prototype.
We used Australian Pine as a primary material, harvested by UPG.
This was important because we learned what worked well, and what needed to be improved. It also gave UPG Volunteer Staff the opportunity to learn core skills, and Partner Will Wilson a chance to learn about UPG.

November:

Material Harvest (Early Nov):
Australian Pine was cut down or torn out of the ground. We felled around 200 saplings at Oleta River State Park and Amelia Earhart County Park to create materials for the project. These stumps will be Solarized to kill the roots.

Fabrication & Assembly (Late Nov):
* Volunteers constructed structural elements from Australian Pine.
* Space was provided by Oleta River State Park / FL Department of Environmental Protection in the Oleta Vehicle Storage “Barn”. Some tools were also loaned. Thanks!
* We used a power saw to trim them to the right length, and hatchets to taper the ends to the right diameter.
* The “BuckyBall” was fitted and assembled.

December:

Transportation & Installation:
* UPG Volunteers “broke” the BuckyBall into 2 hemispheres.
* Components will be loaded onto a trailer, and hauled to Miami Beach.
* Partners from New Mexico Arts assisted with the installation!

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The Burmak: July 2010

UPG Volunteers and Kids created the Burma Reed Kayak during a UPG Summercamp.
Burma Reed is a destructive exotic plant. UPG is protecting Native Habitat by removing it at Oleta, Amelia and Matheson.

Burma Reed does not have great buoyancy characteristics, so it takes a lot of them to make a boat. Reeds in the Nile and the Euphrates are much better for making reed boats.

It was a fun project, and created a functional Kayak.
The Volunteers christened it the Burmak!
The boat’s materials were 100% bio-degradable. They are mulching down nicely in UPG Oleta’s Maritime Hammock area.

Photos:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1338468261525.2042065.12257076…