Bronx River Environmental Group

Tuesday, October 23, 2007


August 13, 2007
An often overlooked natural resource in the Bronx is the focus of a new environmental art project. NY1 Arts Reporter Stephanie Simon explains in the following report.
A river flows in the Bronx, but not everyone in the borough knows about it.
“I didn't even know we had a river in the Bronx, to be honest with you,” says 17-year-old Stephanie Jaquez. “I don't think a lot of people know that at all.”
Even those who have heard of it, have been on the river. But as part of the Bronx River Art Center's eco-media program, a group of students are spending much of their summer exploring and documenting the Bronx River. They're taking pictures and recording sound for an environmental art project.
Hector Canonge is their teaching artist.
“Basically, what I’m teaching is the integration of technologies,” says Canonge. “We are using sound imaging photography and video and also GPS which to create an environmental map of the river.”
To collect the data, they launch homemade boats from the new Hunts Point Riverside Park, with help from the folks at Rocking The Boat. The kids in that program make the boats and do the actual conservation work along the river, including planting oyster beds.
Tuesdays the kids are out on the water in the boats collecting sound samples and taking photos and getting GPS coordinates. On Thursday they're back at the Bronx River Art Center, uploading the content and translating it into their virtual map of the river.
That virtual map will be part of a new kiosk at the center, showing all the environmental work being done by various organizations on the river. It's the first project of its kind focused on the 24-mile long Bronx River.
“I think that it is important we have more socially-conscience art work, especially right now where we are at a critical point with the environment being over used and mistreated,” says BRAC media coordinator Heidi Boisvert.
And it’s important to keep the information flowing.
“I never knew what was up with the Bronx River. I never knew that there are things that live in the Bronx River. There are other organisms of life and everything,” says 13-year-old Dominque Williams.
The new virtual map kiosk will be unveiled at the Bronx River Art Center on August 17th.

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