{"55181":{"#nid":"55181","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Celebrates Earth Day With Artificial Garden","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor the first time, Georgia Tech\u2019s award-winning Earth Day celebration will feature an element of the artificial. A garden of tree-like sculptures crafted from recycled materials will serve as a backdrop for the annual green-themed festivities, inspiring passers-by to practice sustainable behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EEarth Day attendees have had the opportunity to sign pledge cards stating their commitment to reduce, reuse, and recycle at previous celebrations. This year, individuals will cement their pledge by \u2018planting\u2019 a wire flower in the sustainable garden. \u201cThis way, the garden will grow \u2018organically\u2019 and become a beautiful and inspiring piece of art,\u201d said Garden Project organizer, Chris Olson. \u201cThe Garden will be a visceral representation of this year\u0027s theme, \u2018Celebrate Our World,\u2019 as the whole campus collaborates on this art piece.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ECombining art and environmentalism is Olson\u2019s passion. \u201cThe idea to do a large-scale collaborative art project has been in my head for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cWorking with the Georgia Tech Earth Day Committee gave me the perfect opportunity to put the idea into action in the form of a recyclable sculpture garden.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBoth Georgia Tech and Georgia State University students are building objet d\u2019art for the garden. Each \u201ctree\u201d will stand approximately four feet in height or less and be structurally stable without the assistance of chemical adhesives. The Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling, the event\u2019s sponsor, will provide the materials from their own cache of items collected from the recycling bins located in every building, office, and dorm room on campus. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have the support of about 18 Georgia State University art students who have taken the project on as a final project for their Installations Class,\u201d said Olson. \u201cThe class is taught by recyclable-materials-artist Pam Longobardi. She has created installations across the U.S. and abroad in Venice. I\u0027m very excited to be working with her and her class.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EOlson contacted Longobardi in January of 2010 after learning about her use of plastic marine debris in a project entitled \u201cDrifters.\u201d \u201cWhen he introduced the idea about having \u0027recyclable art\u0027 as part of Tech\u0027s Earth day celebration, I was very interested and had the perfect class, \u0027Installation and Collaboration,\u0027 that could be partnered with his idea,\u201d said Longobardi. \u201cI think the idea is so timely, so necessary, and all my students are very excited to be taking part. It\u2019s an excellent collaboration and a model of institutional cooperation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EOlsen is hopeful that the garden project will exemplify both form and function. \u201cI hope that, on the base level, we are able to create a beautiful and unique piece of art that will receive support from members of the Georgia Tech campus and the community,\u201d said Olson. \u201cI also hope that the Garden will serve as a discussion starter around environmentalism in both the artistic realm and in our personal lives.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents will construct their sculptures April 10 - 18. The garden display will then appear in the grassy area next to Skiles Walkway from April 19 - 23 as a part of Think Green Week and the Georgia Tech Earth Day celebration. More than 3,000 visitors will view the garden as part of the Institute\u2019s annual celebration on April 23 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Students Build Trees From Recycled Objects"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor the first time, Georgia Tech\u2019s award-winning Earth Day celebration\nwill feature an element of the artificial. A garden of tree-like\nsculptures crafted from recycled materials will serve as a backdrop for\nthe annual green-themed festivities, inspiring passers-by to practice\nsustainable behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Students build trees from recycled objects."}],"uid":"15436","created_gmt":"2010-03-31 16:42:34","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:45","author":"Automator","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-03-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-03-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"55182":{"id":"55182","type":"image","title":"drifters","body":null,"created":"1449175507","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:45:07","changed":"1475894489","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:29","alt":"drifters","file":{"fid":"190249","name":"drifters.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drifters_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drifters_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":139527,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drifters_0.jpg?itok=z0bgiQIM"}}},"media_ids":["55182"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.earthday.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Earth Day Celebration"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.pamlongobardi.com\/","title":"Pam Longobardi"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1005","name":"Earth Day"},{"id":"9050","name":"garden project"},{"id":"1153","name":"recycling"},{"id":"167141","name":"Student Life"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EChris Olson\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:colson@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ecolson@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}