When You Make A Wish


If a wish is made in a forest, does it come true? By holding an art event and a cleanup in a beautiful natural area we were hoping for a more sustainable world; one more connected to the environment.

On May 15, 2016, the Viridis Art Collective, in cooperation with The Environmental Resources Management Department of Palm Beach County (ERM)invited the public to add a wish to the Mending Tree at the Cypress Creek Natural Area. A hand-woven vessel sat in the grass filled with blank, square canvases for writing the wishes. Long strands of red, purple and pumpkin-colored thread wound around the trunk and across one of the low-hanging branches of the "Mending Tree", an oak tree at the natural area chosen for the event. From 9am to 10am guests wrote wishes down on the blank canvases and tied them to the strands on the tree, and then at 11 went with rangers from ERM to clean up trash from the natural area, removing 175 pounds of trash and invasive plants. 

The tree weaves together our experiences of and hopes for the natural world. Many of the guests wished for the preservation of this and other natural areas, or that more people would know and come to experience these beautiful places for themselves.


After the event, the wishes were lovingly dismantled and re-installed in a gallery space for continued exhibition: The Call To Install exhibition at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach. Guests are invited to continue to write their wishes for the environment and tie them to the Mending Tree, from June 3 through July 30. 

"Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink."

At the Cornell Art Museum this April, Florida Atlantic University's MFA students will be exhibiting their latest work. For her project, MFA candidate and Viridis Art Collective member Ingrid Barreneche will create a piece that celebrates World Water Day on March 22, 2016.

Water is a fundamental human need, yet 660 million people worldwide lack access to safe water. 2.4 billion people worldwide lack access to a toilet. When it takes everyday hours to find and collect water, it’s hard to find time for commerce and community. It’s hard to get through a full day at school. It’s hard to prosper without safe water.
— http://water.org/

The conceptual aim of Barreneche's piece will be to inspire art lovers to support Water.org. Since 2010, Barreneche has participated in the UN's World Water Day and her work is featured on their website. Click on her evocative piece "Holy Water," to learn more about how the UN is working on this important issue:

"Holy Water" by Ingrid Barreneche

"Holy Water" by Ingrid Barreneche

World Water Day is an international observance and an opportunity to learn more about water related issues, be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference.
— http://www.unwater.org

Join the Viridis Art Collective as we celebrate this most necessary resource on World Water Day, and every day.

Support Water.org


The title for this post was plucked from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," who  in 1834 cautioned readers to cherish "man and bird and beast," indeed all things "both great and small." 

What's in a name?

Viridis Art Collective? What does Viridis mean and how do you pronounce it? Viridis is from the Latin and translates to green, fresh, lively and other such delights. It is also where we get the name for viridian green. We were drawn to Viridis because it beautifully and succinctly summed up our collective. Well, that and it's just cool as far as words go (all you logophiles out there will understand what we mean). The pronunciation is a bit more unusual. A good friend who was a Classics major tells us the correct way to say Viridis is "weary-dees." But since we are not fluent in ancient Latin, we will respond to folks who call us using a hard "V" as in "vear-e-dis." However you choose to pronounce it, we are glad you stopped by to learn a little bit about us. Take care