News by Angela Downs
Tracy Grisman and Margie MacDonald are preparing for MacDonald’s summer residency show at the Grover Gallery in her studio at Centrum, twisting wire like she was knitting. Grisman co-founded the Artist in Residence and Education at the Transfer Station (A.I.RE.) program, a grassroots and slow-growing program investigating our waste system. “We’d like to create community awareness of the human phenomena, the immensity, of the waste process,” Grisman said. She spoke of the waste workers as heroes and how a passion for nature can turn into a passion for trash. “It’s not about being perfect. It’s about stewardship.”
The education factor of their name is a priority. Not only to educate and engage the community but also for each artist to create intimate relationships with the waste and waste facilities of their town. As the only people with permission to glean and mine from the Transfer Station, residents of A.I.R.E. have an invaluable resource of materials and information. They are welcome to glean not only for their residency project but also materials they feel inspired to use in future projects…