About Us
Our Purpose
Blue Art Collective provides the resources, creative platform, and support needed to incorporate a social justice lens into water work through the use of participatory and public art.
Our Story
Blue Art Collective was established in 2019 in response to inequities in the ways our shared waters are protected and managed and a growing desire to connect with others interested in merging water, social justice, and creative expression to achieve local goals. Blue Art Collective builds upon a regional initiative called Chesapeake Collective that began in 2014.
Chesapeake Collective was born out of an idea to broaden the ways people engage in the annual Chesapeake Watershed Forum (Forum) outside the traditional workshop structure, making it more accessible and more inclusive. Three simple participatory and reflective projects were brought to the Forum that year by members of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, organizer and host of the regional conference:
A Word Cloud that highlighted the words most frequently used in the Chesapeake Bay Agreement,
An optional Self Reflection document included in the participant packet, and
Two Community Mosaics that asked attendees to anonymously reflect and respond to the questions - What about the watershed are you most grateful for? and What brings you hope in addressing the challenges facing the Chesapeake?
This collaborative effort continued to grow, year after year, expanding the diversity of voices represented and included at the Forum. Chesapeake Collective is now an established group that exists beyond the Forum and brings together community members to create opportunities for participatory art that broaden the conversation about restoration and social justice throughout the Chesapeake Watershed.
In 2019 Sarah Davidson (founding member of Chesapeake Collective and Co-Founder and Creative Director of Blue Index), Erin O’Grady (current Chesapeake Collective Coordinator and D.C. Regional Director at Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay), and Kevin Jeffery (Co-Founder and Project Director of Blue Index and Landscape Architect Associate at MRV Architects) joined forces to scale Chesapeake Collective up to a national level.
Blue Art Collective was established as a resource for community water advocates and practitioners to infuse access, equity, and broader representation through participatory art in any community. Our first set of participatory art projects took root at River Rally 2019 in Cleveland, OH, where we also presented on the intersection of art, water, and social justice.
Since then, we’ve continued to grow, from a simple idea to a community that provides resources and support on creative expression and participatory art to others passionate about water and social justice. As our journey continues, we invite you to join us to explore this intersection of art, water, and social justice, to share your ideas, and to bring participatory art projects to your community.
Our Logo
Our logo is an abstract representation of a water molecule. It also represents individuals coming together in common purpose. The color blocks look mosaic-like when multiple water molecules are next to each other - a nod to Community Mosaics, one of Blue Art Collective’s signature projects.