Strawberry Field #5

Title: Strawberry Field #5
LC Subject: Photography Color photography Landscape photography Watersheds art photography color photography photography (discipline)
Creator: Abrahamson, Mark
Description: This aerial, color photograph presents an abstraction of the landscape that opens the door to endless possibilities for interpretation. Strawberry field #5; [no.] 6;1993 Mark Abrahamson was born in Seattle, Washington in 1944. He received a BA degree in chemistry from Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA. in 1966 and a DDS degree from the University of Washington in 1970. In 1987 he received a grant from the Seattle Arts Commission, in 1991 and 1995 he was awarded GAP Grants from Artists Trusts, and also in 1995 a Washington State China Relations Council Travel Grant. (Unknown, 1995) The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
Location: The Valley Library >> Benton County >> Oregon >> United States Benton County >> Oregon >> United States
Street Address: 121 The Valley Library, Corvallis Oregon
Date: 1975/2012
Identifier: 1995_osu_valley-library_01_a01
Accession Number: 1995_osu_valley-library_01_a01
Rights: In Copyright
Dc Rights Holder: Abrahamson, Mark
Type: Image
Format: image/tiff
Measurements: 23.5 x 15.75 inches
Material: Photography; cibachrome print
Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Primary Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Relation: 1995 - 1997 Biiennium Valley Library Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon 1995_osu_valley-library
Has Version: slide; color
Institution: Oregon Arts Commission University of Oregon
Note: To view a map of the artwork location in context to Oregon State University, see http://oregonstate.edu/cw_tools/campusmap/locations.php 2nd floor
Color Space: RGB
Biographical Information: The images from this series are landscape photographs of American river watersheds. My focus is water and the impacts of land use upon it. Since 1990, I've photographed rural watersheds in Washington State, the "meadows" in Las Vegas, the Lowcountry of Savannah, Georgia, and urban watersheds in Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. At low altitude from helicopters and airplanes, I create narrative abstractions. . . .documents of point and nonpoint factors that adversely impact our water. From this perspective one sees a landscape continuously factors that adversely impact our waters. From this perspective one sees a landscape continuously redefined by development and the forces of nature. The subversive formalism of the imagery underscores the deceptive beauty of the land, while the oblique shooting angle adds to the ambiguity of the work. With close inspection. The world below is troubled and complex. I've been involved in land use and watershed restoration processes in Washington State as an environmentalist, citizen activist and artist for the past 20 years. As an ardent recreational fisherman I have observed the decimation of legendary runs of King salmon, Coho, steelhead and cutthroat trout in Puget Sound. Sloppy logging practices have increased sedimentation and exacerbated flooding. Pollution from industry. Herbicide and pesticide misuse, fertilizers, household hazardous wastes, dairy and equestrian farms, and failing septic systems have fouled the rivers and marine waters of the Sound. Development has increased runoff and destroyed wetlands as we've raced to pave over the countryside. Ten years ago I was elected to a management board to study and develop a long term plan to restore the rural Stillaguamish River watershed near my home and studio. The idea was to examine and the entire watershed in a comprehensive manner and to identify specific problems to mitigate. Local players within the boundaries of the watershed (farmers, foresters, citizens, politicians, environmentalists, governmental agencies and tribal and fisheries experts) developed a long term restoration plan by consensus. Implementation is underway, and while successes come slowly, it's beginning to work. Such a "watershed approach" is the only way to tackle the problem of our nation's polluted waters. Water quality in some urban watersheds has improved in the past 25 years. On the Hudson River, you can swim or catch 20 pound striped bass (through laced with PCBs). In Seattle's Duwamish River, recreational fishermen catch salmon and steelhead. Chicago River wetlands have been restored, native plant and aquatic life are returning and water quality has been upgraded. These improvements are due to Federal environmental laws enacted in the early 1970s; to changes in industry and agriculture; to greater public environmental awareness; and to the leadership of conservation and citizen groups that promote environmentalisms and a sense of identity of the local citizenry with their rivers. The Friends of the Chicago River have organized armies of volunteers for cleanup. The Puget Sound Keeper Alliance monitors the Duwamish and other regional rivers for industrial polluters and legall pursues violators to compliance. The Hudson River is indelibly etched into the psyche of New Yorkers as a treasure through the wrok of many such groups and because of the Hudson's long prominence in American history, literature, and the arts. We obviously have a long way to go to clean up our marine waters and rivers, but in the long term, I'm optimistic that we can do it. Regulations for industrial discharge of pollutants must be tightened and existing laws more strictly enforced. Washington State, frequently portrayed as a national leader for environmental concerns, ranked first in the country fro the dumping of carcinogenic chemicals into its waters. Issues such as a recent New York Times poll, 80% of those Americans asked favored "spending whatever it takes to protect our environment." The right to a safe, healthy environment has become a core American value. (Abrahamson, 1995)