RETURN TO NATURE: THE 2022 bayou-torium @ YBN Nature Park.

For the second consecutive year, the BioArt Bayou-torium returns to Yolanda Black Navarro Buffalo Bend Nature Park for the first three weekends of October (1-2, 8-9 and 15-16) in 2022. YBN Nature Park is located in the Second Ward at 2300 S. Sgt Macario Garcia Dr., 77011. More art and natural science related activities and nature guided tours are planned. Free and open to all ages. The Bayou-torium operates on Saturday and Sunday from 9am - 3pm.

I am honored to be named the Inaugural Artist-in-Residence to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. My thanks to Anne Olsen, President; Karen Farber, Vice President for External Affairs; Trudi Smith Director of Programming; the BBP Board of Directors; and the entire Staff of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership for their generous support. Additional thanks to Adrian Garcia, Harris County Commissioner and the Precinct 2 Parks and Recreation Department and staff.

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Saturday, Oct. 1st

Opening day for the Bayou-torium! This was the first time my team assembled for 2022. Our new member Laura DeLeon, is a graduate student at University of Houstons, School of Art in sculpture. But I’m very pleased to welcome back our past members: Jimena Vilchis (BFA candidate in sculpture Fien Arts); my oldest best friend and our nature guide, Michael Williams; and of course my love, Heather L. Johnson.

We all had to get re-familiar with the microscope equipment, plan out routines for the nature tours, practice with the sketch and flora/fauna inventory templates, collect live samples and explore the ponds. We were fortunate to engage with 17 individuals that day. Visitors included, Buffalo Bayou Partnership President, Anne Olson and Vice President of External Affairs, Karen Farber (both not pictured). Overall, it was a beautiful and successful day and we enjoyed ourselves!

Unless noted all photos courtesy Henry G. Sanchez

Sunday, Oct. 2nd

A second beautiful day this weekend. We welcomed back Ceci Norman, artist and cyanotype workshop guide. Ceci will be with us every Sunday starting at 10:30am. There were many more visitors to the project today. Overall we engaged with at least 30 people. The inventory templates are becoming a successful educational addition to our guided nature tours. Michael, a genius naturalist, can name almost every type of plant and animal in the park. Having an inventory list that participants can create is a valuable tool for fostering stewardship.

One of the BioArt Bayou-torium’s new features of this year was to provide a platform for other environmental and nature organizations. In our new “convenio” we had three such groups. SPLAShTX was represented by Elizabeth Virgl and Chloe Dannanfelser. SPLAShTX mission is to host regular coastal cleanup in the Houston-Galveston region. Air Alliance Houston has been one of the stalwart advocacy organization working to reduce the public impacts of air pollution and promote environmental justice in out metro region. The Executive Director, Jenn Hadayia honored us by participating. And Franco Tijero, founder of D.I.D.U.: District I Decontamination Unit, is a local hero who organizes a variety of cleanup in the East Ends parks and bayous, joined us as well.

The purpose of the convenio was to create a conversation with visitors to the park about what we can all do to contribute to a cleaner environment. Offered were practical and innovative methods that anyone can do. Each organization welcomes volunteers to help with picking up litter and wearing air monitors to record data about air emissions, and identify what kind and how much trash is deposited everyday. Rather than a formal panel discussion, we exchanged stories about our lived experiences with everyone who attended. This was a way to open the dialog with the public, and not just proselytize. Conducting a convenio is a way to “connect the dots”, to introduce environmental organization to each other, and discover ways for our neighbors to create personal agency.

Saturday, Oct. 8th

Up bright and early this Saturday morning. We reorganize the container and ready ourselves for visitors that day. Meanwhile we take the time to fish out any garbage float-ables in the pond and elsewhere. Sketch tours come easy when artist friends start showing up. The atmosphere changes into a celebration when a spontaneous rehearsal for Mexican ballet folklorico arrives on the pier! My visitors are from the neighborhood; Latinx and Mexican American, with some powerful Chicana artists. This is the audience the project tries to reach.

On some weekend days, the Bayou-torium must compete with large city festivals. Though visitation was sparse, we still engaged with around 17 people today. A beautiful family with 6 children arrived towards the end for a long tour of the park. Our team made sure that they got the full treatment, and we appreciated everyone’s response.

Sunday, Oct. 9th

Some familiar faces and lots of family visitors today. Of course, because it’s Sunday, Ceci conducts her cyanotype workshops. This is always a popular part of the Bayou-torium programs.

One surprise were visitors who happened to have rescued a red-eared snapping turtle from the nearby road. They came to the park to place it back in the pond where it wandered from. With a little push, this fellow found its way to a better habitat than the middle of Macario Garcia Drive.

Managed to find some time to do a cyanotype myself. A dried carcass of a gecko, a bullhead minnow and some laboratory paraphernalia make a great subject. Microscopy reveals the diamond structure of the skin. Interestingly, this is similar to certain aquatic animals (see my page about the Pterygoplicthys).

Because some of my tango friends visited, I indulged in playing Carlos DiSarli and danced a few tandas!

Saturday, Oct. 15th

Last weekend for the BioArt Bayou-torium! Saturday’s warm temperatures didn’t deter visitors. In fact one of my fellow Houston tangueros came early, Srinivas Vishnubohtla. And later Houston legacy sculptor Meredith “Butch” Jack dropped in. Of course, my biggest pleasures is when family members visit. My brother Troy brought his smallest children, Everett and Makenna. They can be so funny and cute! They could have stayed longer, were it not for the sun and heat. When collecting live specimens for the Bayou-torium aquarium, its good practice to place them back safely where they belong. Had a little helper this time returning the bluegill.

Sunday, Oct. 16th

The Bayou-torium’s final day included more of programs botanical art making, guided nature tours, sketch tours, cyanotype-making and microscope demonstrations. We started the day with a deluge of children! They numbered more than the adults. But we kept them busy and they stayed curious. From this concentration of small children I surmised several things; 1) they began to associate a park with nature containing live animals and flora (there are no jungle gyms, slides or ball fields at YBN Nature Park); 2) they begin to sense a nature park as fun and worthy of exploration; and 3) they now can associate the act of art making with a nature park. In other words they come to nature, find wonder and make art based on the subject.

There is a tendency from practitioners of socially engaged art to over-estimate its impact on the places and populations it is tailored or directed towards. Metrics for impact are difficult to measure because socially practice methodology is not strictly scientific. Of course, with socio-political projects the results can be telling from the emotions and activities it generates. However, with a project like the Bayoutorium, the goal is fostering a sense of connection our neighbors create with the nature along the bayou. At its most impactful, that connection and emerging personal agency becomes stewardship. This is the mission of the project. Ultimately, this can be the change that the project seeks. However, at the very least we can see potential seeds germinate. Individuals, parents, families and children can develop a suggestion of a new consciousness of the natural world around them.

Some details of artwork.

The Bayou-torium hosted its final covenio with representatives of two environmental groups focusing on the health of Houston’s Bayou. We were joined by Program Manager, Ryan Francisco and Outreach and Engagement Manager, Grant Moss of Bayou Preservation Association (BPA); and Susan Chadwick, Executive Director of Save Buffalo Bayou (SBB). This was another rare example how we coordinated two groups with similar missions for attendees to identify. Often it can be confusing to learn about the number and variety of bayou organizations and especially how they relate to each other. One can easily mix-up one org from another. Do they know about each other? Do they work on an overlapping basis? The purpose of the convenio was for visitors to understand the intricacies of each group and help them “connect-the-dots” and get a general perspective of the environmental non-profit map.

Grant and Ryan reminded everyone of the historic legacy of the BPA. Were it not for its founder, Barbara Hershey, we may have seen all of Houston’s bayou, channelized and concretized (much like Los Angeles). Today the Association continues to work on keep our bayous naturalized, clean and accessible. They presented how all Houston residents can participate in water quality sampling with kits they devised. This help keeps track of the amount of human and man-made bacteria that goes into our bayou so we, policy makers, partners and local governments can better address water quality restoration.

Susan founded Save Buffalo Bayou in 2014 in response to an ill-planned channelizing of Buffalo Bayou in the Memorial area (since suspended). SSB’s mission is to advocate and educate about the best green practices for restoring, protecting and publicly accessing all of Houston’s bayous and tributaries. Maintaining the naturalness of the bayou riparian shores is the best way for preventing further catastrophic flooding that our City regularly experiences. “Green” solutions are more effective, cheaper and healthier for the ecosystem and our bodies. A science-based approach with enlightened nature-based practices is far preferable than the old paradigm of widening, deepening and razing the habitats of our bayou system. She remined everyone that nature does an excellent job in filtering trash and street runoff, soaking excess water from rain events and cleaning itself while providing an excellent habitat for aquatic and avian life.

A suprise guest to the Bayou-torium was the Great Egret! It frequents the Nature Park and decided to join the conversation after a quick fly-around the pond. The Great Egret greeted each guest, though initially everyone welcomed him with some hesitation.  But in the end they were finally pleased to make its acquaintance and was treated to a cool glass of Cabernet Sauvignon as a reward.