THE NEW SCHOOL PRESENTS OYSTER GARDENS OF NEW YORK

Exhibition Explores Role of Oysters in Waterway Restoration

Students from Oyster Gardens NYC working in the lab

NEW YORK, April 20, 2009 —In celebration of Earth Day, The New School will present an exhibition of designs, models, photographs, and scientific data produced in the class "Oyster Gardens NYC," which explores the possibility of restoring a viable population of oysters to the waters of New York Harbor. The exhibition will also feature a new oyster reef sculpture designed by environmental artist Mara G. Haseltine, who teaches the Oyster Gardens class, and constructed with the help of her students.

The exhibition will be on view from April 21st -24th at the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries in the New School's Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, at 66 Fifth Avenue, between 12th and 13th Streets.

Last fall, The New School launched a new Environmental Studies degree program, offered jointly by Parsons The New School for Design and Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, that is unusual in its focus on urban environmental issues and design. The Oyster Gardens class, in which students learn to apply art and design concepts to a local ecological problem, is one example of the innovative opportunities afforded by the Environmental Studies curriculum.

Before the Industrial Revolution, New York City's estuaries boasted 350 square miles of oyster reef and New York Harbor was rightfully known as the "Oyster Capital of the World.² While oyster restoration is an emerging field in New York City, this project is one of is to blend the concepts of ecological research and public art. Over the course of the school year, students in "Oyster Gardens NYC" learn the history of New York oysters, Crassostrea Virginica, study their biology and the mechanics of filtration, explore both traditional and innovative reef restoration techniques, and get an insight of the planning and production process of a full-scale environmental art installation.

Earlier this year, Haseltine and her students installed an oyster 'midden' in front New School headquarters at 66 West 12th Street. Unlike middens of yore, where shells were tossed in a heap, this one was deliberately crafted in an arrangement intended to mimic water flow in the intertidal zone where oysters thrive. Located at New School Courtyard on 66 West 12th St, New York City (front garden). The midden will be on display through the spring of 2009.

What is happening at The New School in the area of oyster research is not isolated, but part of a larger local movement to restore oysters to the city’s waterways. On April 24, NY/NJ Baykeeper will hold its second Oyster Restoration Conference on Governor’s Island. The event will bring together biologists, for restoring New York¹s oyster population. Students from the Oyster Gardens project will be among the attendees and presenters at this conference.

About Environmental Studies at The New School
Launched in fall 2008, The New School’s undergraduate degree program in environmental studies is distinct in its focus on design and the urban environment. Through a combination of studio, laboratory, and seminar courses, students learn to design solutions for real-world environmental issues. Since its founding, The New School has set itself apart with its focus on civic engagement, and its long history of partnering with nonprofit organizations to address important social issues through design, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Sierra Club. For more information, visit www.newschool.edu/environmentalstudies.

About the Artist
A graduate of Oberlin College and the San Francisco Art Institute, Mara Haseltine is an environmental sculptor with a special interest in the oyster. Two years ago, she teamed up with a group of marine biologists to create and install the city's first solar-powered oyster reef at College Point, Queens. Later this summer, Ms. Haseltine will install an oyster reef based on her latest sculpture in the Harlem River, as well as several others developed in conjunction with the New York-New Jersey Baykeeper. For more information on her work, visit her website: www.calamara.com.

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