Image Copyright © 2014 Tattfoo Studio, All rights reserved

Marfa Dialogues/New York alum, Tattfoo Tan, recently unveiled his newest project, Nature Matching System at Seymour Dual Language Academy in Syracuse, New York. As described by the artist: “The Nature Matching System is a color chart… used to remind us to consume our recommended daily dose of fruits and vegetables.”

The project, which is composed of a “curriculum” booklet and a mural, was a result of Tan’s collaboration with Professor Marion Wilson, who teaches a class about community engagement at Syracuse University. For Nature Matching System, Wilson’s students, inspired by Tan’s work, designed a curriculum and were then required to teach it to a 3rd grader at the local elementary school.

Tan hopes to spread his “colorful and healthy effort” to other schools by allowing the booklet to be downloaded for free.

To learn more about Tan and his practice, read his recent article “Nutrition Isn’t Pretty” for Creative Time Reports. In “Nutrition”, Tan discusses the effects climate change has on our agriculture and asks us to “reduce food waste by rethinking what produce should look like.”

Photo by Tattfoo Tan, 2013

I have had my ups and I have had my downs”They gave me a chance. Although the CDC recommends that infants and young children follow a normal vaccination schedule, children may need to be placed on an accelerated vaccination schedule if you must travel with them. National Academy’s Sixth Annual Conference and the Fourth Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference, Cork, Ireland: NAIRTL. “Those are the things we have got to clean up,” Ryan said of the shortstop. The reception was held at the Commercial Club. Lettre(s) ; Kellogg, Charlotte,

A letter to the editor from Fairfax Dorn and Hamilton Fish, from the July 25, 2013 Big Bend Sentinel:

To the many friends and supporters of the Marfa Dialogues in the high desert – We have exciting news: the Marfa Dialogues project is hitting the road and will be opening this fall in New York City with a series of programs on climate change and the arts that will expand on the symposium held in Marfa last September. It’s been our dream to build on the work we started here in 2010, and to export the Marfa Dialogues model of engaging the arts with social and political concerns to communities around the country.

With the support of our partners at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation we have created a two-month long Marfa Dialogues calendar of events in New York, beginning in October. More than 20 leading New York cultural, academic and public interest institutions are participating in this city-wide public conversation around climate change. Like our Marfa project, but on a larger scale, the Marfa Dialogues/New York program will feature community forums, public panels, an exhibition curated by Ballroom Marfa at the Rauschenberg project space in Chelsea, an online magazine, public sculpture projects, theater performances, cabarets and film exhibitions – and in the enduring spirit of Marfa, we also have an environmentally conscious food truck as one of our program partners.

Through your participation as co-sponsors, audience members and supporters, the Marfa community has helped shape this initiative. We are hugely grateful for the collaborative efforts of Tim Johnson and Caitlin Murray of the Marfa Book Company; Robert and Rosario Halpern of the Big Bend Sentinel; Tom Michael and the staff at Marfa Public Radio; Farm Stand Marfa; Cochineal; Maiya’s; Rob Crowley, Gory Smelley; The Crowley Theater; Thunderbird Hotel and The Capri; Padre’s; Robert Potts of The Dixon Water Foundation; and to the Food Shark and chef Rocky Barnett for all of their amazing creations. Add to that all of the camera people, copywriters, graphic artists, publicists and the very long list of all of you who contributed so much to the success of our first two Dialogues.

Even as we are expanding the horizons of the Marfa Dialogues project, we will continue our established practice of producing a new Marfa Dialogues program every other year here in Marfa. So break out the new dress and press that shirt – the Marfa Dialogues will be returning to Marfa in the fall of 2014.

And with the Marfa Dialogues banner flying over New York this fall, we hope if you can you’ll join us there and be a part of the exciting schedule of climate change programs being organized across the city. In the next several weeks we’ll be posting more details about the calendar of events on www.ballroommarfa.org and our new website, marfadialogues.org.

With great appreciation to all,

Fairfax Dorn
Hamilton Fish, co-founders, Marfa Dialogues

For more information on Marfa Dialogues past and future, visit our archive.

Marfa Dialogues/NY to Debut in New York City this Fall

Interdisciplinary Project Brings Together Over 20 Leading Cultural, Academic and Advocacy Organizations Citywide To Address Climate Change in Art, Activism and Science.

June 27, 2013: The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Ballroom Marfa and the Public Concern Foundation will bring the Marfa Dialogues to New York in October-November 2013 as part of a continuing examination of climate change science, environmental activism and artistic practice.

Marfa Dialogues/NY will feature two months of programming including community forums, art exhibitions, musical performance and environmental panels, all accessible to the public and available via broadcast and digital media. Ballroom Marfa will present an art exhibition of environmentally-engaged works at the Rauschenberg Foundation Project Space (455 W. 19th Street in Chelsea), and will orchestrate additional events with Marfa Dialogues program partners at that location.

A calendar of events will be available in August at www.marfadialogues.org, along with ongoing context and discussion for participants. For more about previous Marfa Dialogues, see www.ballroommarfa.org/dialogues.

Through program grants provided by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Marfa Dialogues/NY establishes 18 programs radiating across New York. Programming partners include:

The Carbon Tax Center; The Center for Social Inclusion; Columbia University’s Earth Institute; Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate & Society; Cooper Union’s Institute for Sustainable Development; Gallery Aferro; High Line Art; IMC Lab & Gallery; Joe’s Pub at Public Theater; Mary Miss/City as a Living Laboratory; Materials for the Art; New School’s Center for New York City Affairs; NRDC; Sculpture Center; Socrates Sculpture Park; Storefront for Art & Architecture; Superhero Clubhouse and Triple Canopy.

A few images from Ballroom’s recent trip to the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in New York, where the next installment of Marfa Dialogues is taking shape. #MDNY