If you haven’t seen any of the
Solidarity Fish “swimming” around Florida in the last year you have been
missing out. What began as an artist’s (several
artists actually) response to the overwhelming public outcry over the
ecological collapse of the Indian River Lagoon in 2013 has become a
far-reaching phenomenon. They have been from the
Everglades to Washington, D.C., from the steps of the Capitol Building in
Tallahassee to the cover of major Florida newspapers and in the New York Times.
But what is really spectacular about these fish is that regular folks,
old and young, are the creators of these beautifully powerful images.
The recipe is simple: a thin wooden fish is blank on one side while the other side is white skeletal remains on a black background. Enter the volunteers who turn the blank side into a vividly painted, one of a kind masterpiece. When they are displayed together they become a monumental public art installation that connects participants and passers-by in a most powerful way. These two-sided “turn it around” fish display both what is lost and what can be found again if the state comes together to solve our water quality crises.
The fish have been formally mounted
outside the Blake Library (Martin County), the Elliot Museum, the Stuart News
building, and the Florida Oceanographic Society (to name a few), and inside Stuart City
Hall. They have been waved in parades and carried or displayed
at nearly every grassroots action focused on protecting the estuaries of the
Greater Everglades in the past year.
The fish have become a single image that says it all for activists working on Everglades restoration:
The fish have become a single image that says it all for activists working on Everglades restoration:
"Stop the harm
Buy the land
Send water south
Fund it now
Save the estuaries
Save the Everglades"
But they are not only a message for South Florida. When activists from all over the state gathered at the Floridians’ Clean Water Declaration Campaign first annual We Want Clean Water Rally last February, the fish spoke for all of Florida’s imperiled waters as they bejeweled the Historic Capitol steps under the feet of the state’s most devout clean water activists. And when President’s Park in Washington D.C. is alight this December with Christmas trees representing every state in the nation, Florida’s tree will be covered in Solidarity Fish labeled with the names of our most iconic, but endangered, waterways.
You can find more photos, news clips and videos on the Solidarity Art Facebook page and the Solidarity Fish website.
If you want to be a
part of a campaign to bring Solidarity Fish Projects to other parts (your
part!) of Florida please email cris.costello@sierraclub.org.
Artist and illustrator Janeen Mason, the muscle behind the Solidarity Fish Project, would love to work with anyone interested in spreading the "fish"!
You can't help but be thankful for Solidarity Fish!
Artist and illustrator Janeen Mason, the muscle behind the Solidarity Fish Project, would love to work with anyone interested in spreading the "fish"!
You can't help but be thankful for Solidarity Fish!
