Sunday, January 22, 2012 • starting at 10:00 a.m. • Free and open to the public
American Visionary Art Museum, 3rd Floor, Jim Rouse Visionary Center
The American Visionary Art Museumʼs current original exhibition, “ALL THINGS ROUND: Galaxies, Eyeballs & Karma” explores among other subjects, the widely publicized Maya Calendar completion in 2012. In conjunction with this current exhibition, AVAM will be hosting an all day, visionary, Eco Conference that will be held on the third floor of the national museumʼs Jim Rouse Visionary Center; 800 Key Highway, Baltimore Inner Harbor, Maryland. The 2012 conferenceʼs keynote speaker will be ecologist and activist, Dr. Sandra Steingraber–an authority on environmental links to cancer, and author of the acclaimed book Living Downstream: An Ecologistʼs Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment.
The State of Our Earth Eco Conference will also feature speakers Dr. Susan Shaw, a marine toxicologist, Doctor of Public Health, and Founder/Director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute (MERI) addressing the state of our oceans, as well as Dr. Shira Kramer, an epidemiologist and expert witness who founded Epidemiology International–an international organization that focuses on using scientific data to improve community health.
The conference will begin with a morning program honoring the voices and the concerns of “First Peoples,” including indigenous artists who will share their respective prophetic traditions about a coming Purification Day, as well as their modern day battles with unwanted and calamitous exploitation of their lands and mineral rights. Among these speakers are Native American artists, some of whose works are featured in AVAMʼs “All Things Round” exhibition, from the Huichol villages of the Mexican Sierra Madre to the Lakota heartland of America. Tibetan monks from the Gaden JanglesMonastery in India will also be in residence building a sand mandala starting January 22 and continuing throughout the week, in addition to Visionary Artist and Sufi Master, Sermet Aslan. These collective voices, each with very synchronous visions of concern, will share their experiences with the swift escalation of earthʼs imbalance caused by pollution of our air, land and water.
The afternoon and evening program will present internationally respected scientists, whose up-to-the moment data on industrial, chemical, and radioactive poisoning of large eco systems and living communities will echo the prophetic cautions of the First Peoplesʼ morning testimonies, as well as lay out what positive actions can still be cooperatively accomplished. AVAM is also pleased to present two visually stunning films: Antrim Caskeyʼs “The Last Mountain” focusing on civil disobedience in the effort to stop Mountain Top Removal and Suzanne Taylorʼs “What On Earth?,” an award-winning film on the phenomenon of Crop Circles. Dr. John B. Carlson (Director, Center for Archaeoastronomy and University of Maryland Professor) will lead a scholarly tour of the “All Things Round” Maya-centric gallery, and share a physicistʼs take on the exhibitionʼs OOPart, or “Out of Place Art”–ancient objects engraved with what appears to be UFOs and alien beings.
The American Visionary Art Museumʼs State of Our Earth 2012 Eco Conference will be made possible by the vision and generosity of The Corfu Foundation, The Ceres Trust, and the Jim and Patty Rouse Charitable Foundation. The event is free and open to the public, and all donations are gratefully welcome. Please visit avam.org for more information about this event.
VISITOR INFORMATION
The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10am–6pm. The museum is closed on Mondays, Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day. AVAM is located next to historic Federal Hill park at 800 Key Highway, Baltimore Inner Harbor, 21230. Admission prices, general museum info, directions, and parking info can be found online at avam.org or by calling (410) 244-1900.