Jessica Gath | FDR Park, Philadelphia
Climate Impact Report
Jessica GathThe Dirt on Grief: How To Thaw Your Own HeartJessica Gath with Katrina Goldsaito & Petra Page-MannThe Meadows at FDR Park, Philadelphia, PA03/25/2022- Introduction
Jessica Gath is a conceptual artist who often works collaboratively to inspire and highlight connection and generosity. She strives to practice her life, which includes her studio practice, working toward a 360 degree view of her impact. As a result her art often takes the form of ephemera––performance, social practice, recycled and recyclable correspondence, food, plants, and other objects that come from and/or may be returned directly to the Earth.
The Dirt on Grief (TDoG) is a collaboration between Gath, writer Katrina Goldsaito, and farmer Petra Page-Mann. It is a seasonal offering of rituals and literal and figurative seeds to scatter, born out of deeply-felt questions about why as humans and as a society, we feel so cut off from our grief. TDoG creates opportunities for us to explore our own griefs and work them out together and in solitude through experiencing and creating simple, replicable-at-home art objects. The team takes care to ensure the materials used in the replicate-at-home artworks may be easily sourced sustainably and affordably/for free.
How To Thaw Your Own Heart, the Spring 2022 iteration of TDoG, is the focus of this Climate Impact Report. The artwork was installed in The Meadows at FDR Park, an Olmsted Park in Philadelphia, in partnership with Friends of FDR Park and Wild Seeds Learning Community.
Presenting Partner Climate Policy
FDR Park is South Philadelphia’s largest park and one of its most important public institutions, reflecting the remarkable racial, cultural, and economic diversity of South Philadelphia. Its lakes, architecture, athletic fields, and nature trails create a civic commons where Philadelphians of all backgrounds can recreate, experience nature, and enjoy the cultural expressions of South Philadelphia.
The Friends of FDR Park is a community-led nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding and advocating for FDR Park. We are committed to achieving our vision of building one of the greatest urban parks in America, rooted in the ideals of diversity, inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
In late 2017, Fairmount Park Conservancy and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation initiated a series of efforts that would lead to a long-term, multi-decade plan to restore and revive FDR Park. FDR’s popularity, years of heavy use, and regular flooding have taken a toll on its infrastructure and environmental integrity, prompting the need for a restoration. To start off the process, park ambassadors surveyed park users in seven different languages to gauge current opinions and future desires for the space. Then, a series of community workshops and meetings were conducted to bring together the diverse array of FDR guests, bringing as many perspectives as possible into the brainstorming process. The Friends of FDR Park were key stakeholders during these sessions. Finally, the finished Master Plan was unveiled in May of 2019 to the public.
Master Plan | Environmental
Climate Change | mitigate heatwaves, manage sea level rise
Ecosystem | Atlantic Coastal Plain, important bird habitat, support endangered species, protect biodiversity
Water | manage stormwater, act as a sponge, filter pollutants, reduce flooding
People | connect people with nature, combat nature deficit disorder
Master Plan | Social
Culture | tied to the collective conscience of the community
Health | promote healthy & active lifestyles, reduce cardiac disease, asthma & obesity, improve mental health
Community | network of community members that support the park, social interaction & exchange, increase access to recreational field space city-wide
Access | large park connected to the city by transportation
Artist Climate Policy
Jessica Gath has made activism on behalf of all––not only all humans but all that is present with us in our ecosystem now and all that will be here in the future––central to her practice. Gath’s Studio Climate Policy is as follows:
Cutting Emissions:
Limit plane travel whenever possible.
No traveling for visiting artists lectures, virtual or local visits only.
Use air conditioning minimally and only on the hottest days.
Shipping by land freight wherever possible. Planning ahead to make time for it.
Switching energy provider to The Energy Co-op: cooperatively-owned, locally-sourced, renewable energy.
Using foot, bicycle or train travel over car or air travel whenever possible.
Food served in connection to art experiences and shows should be vegetarian and predominantly sourced locally (within 100 miles) through local distributors. Sustainably sourced, local bivalves are also ok.
Eliminate Waste:
Reuse as much material as possible.
Compost all organic materials.
Subscribe to Rabbit Recycling for reuse, upcycling or re-entry into manufacturing as raw materials of everything that is not compostable, not glass, and has not come into contact with bodily fluids.
Contribute no-longer-needed glass to the Bottle Underground at Remark Glass for recirculation, recycling, downcycling and upcycling.
Participate in Philadelphia Water Department’s free Rain Check Program. Use water from rain barrel to water plants (while diverting excess storm water from overwhelming city’s sewer system and overflowing into our rivers and streams, harming waterways.)
Phase out tape as much as possible.
Prioritize glass over plastic.
Eat lunch at home as often as possible. Choose restaurants and cafes that use actual dinnerware when eating and drinking out as often as possible.
Always offer excess or unneeded material to community before recycling or throwing away.
Support People:
Pay fair and transparent wages to assistants, vendors, or fabricators.
Shop locally and small, prioritizing supporting woman and BIPOC-owned businesses whenever feasible.
Ask vendors about their climate policies. Reward thoughtful, environmental justice action-oriented vendors with business whenever feasible.
Team up on a live, shared document listing vendors who prioritize cutting emissions, eliminating waste, and/or supporting people.
Make sure to partner only with galleries or institutions who represent or exhibit a broad range of artists regarding gender, sexuality, race, and ethnic background.
Every year, donate some portion of income to climate and/or social justice causes.
Commit to lifelong listening, learning and growing personally and in community.
Commit to taking action in service of recognizing privilege, white supremacy, and dominance culture to appreciate and wield privilege wisely; take action to dismantle white supremacy and domination culture at home, in broader community, and at the ballot box.
Support political leaders who support people with time, money, and votes (canvassing/text or phone-banking/donating/voting/ballot-curing).
Support all local voters by fulfilling elected role of Majority Inspector of Elections.
Though Jessica Gath takes many intentional steps to support others earning living wages by supporting brick-and-mortar, small businesses in her community day-to-day, The Dirt on Grief is one of many examples of invisible and unaccounted for labor that go into the practice of art.
Emissions
Carbon Emissions from Travel: 0 tCO2e
0 flights were taken to realize the commission.
Carbon Emissions from Shipping: 0 tCO2e
5oz of seeds were shipped 304 miles using ground freight
14kg of ice was transported 2.7 miles by gas-powered car to installation site
Carbon Emissions from Energy Use: 0 tCO2e
This artwork is located outside and may only be experienced during daylight hours.
The artwork does not consume any electricity. Due to its presence less lawn will be mowed than would otherwise have been.
Carbon Emissions from Other Categories: 0 tCO2e
16oz wheat paste was made using a gas stove
Total Calculated Emissions: 0 tCO2e*
*The calculated emissions were so low as to round down to zero in tCO2e.
Waste Report
Reuse: to be reused for the same purpose as the original use
31 Reused takeout containers - artist will reuse as overflow lunch containers and for sending food home with others
Heart-shaped silicone ice tray - artist will use in kitchen and studio for cocktails and artworks
2 Heavy duty trash bags - artist was careful not to puncture these so they may be reused
6 seed packets - Seed packets can be reused with artist’s neighborhood penpals
Repurpose: to be kept, sold, or donated and used for a different purpose in the future
Recycled cardboard box from Who Gives A Crap delivery - artist will use this to transport glass recycling to The Bottle Underground for upcycling
Recycle: items placed in the recycling bin
Recycled Who Gives A Crap box - dismantled to use as an armature so it cannot be reused a 2nd time
Landfill: items sent to a landfill
24” 2” glue-backed paper tape
Consumable: items “consumed” during the exhibition
2 packets 50 Phacelia seeds, 2 packets 50 Poppy seeds, 3 packets 50 Calendula seeds - They were consumed by the Earth
Supporting People
The Dirt on Grief is a long-distance collaboration between Philadelphia-based artist Jessica Gath, writer Katrina Goldsaito (Northampton, MA), and seed farmer Petra Page-Mann (Naples, NY). The project is founded on care for people, particularly those of us whose ancestral grief and coping rituals have been whitewashed and colonized out of our practices and shared lore, leaving us to fend for ourselves as we attempt to reckon with being mortal and caring for ourselves and our home and mother, Earth.
The project is a seasonal offering of rituals and seeds to scatter, giving us all a chance to be in the mud of our private and communal grief, and revel in these healing plants as they grow and bloom (and yes, eventually die). There is no “central location'' for the artwork, just as there is no “central location” where we find ourselves experiencing grief. That means materials for creating the artwork must be easily accessible wherever folks find themselves. Because the team wants the artwork to spread and be available to as many people who wish to participate as possible, materials are simple, cheap or free, and low-impact.
Full access to the project often relies on internet access, which may be a barrier to some, though it is also possible to encounter the artwork in the world, for instance at The Meadows at FDR Park in Philadelphia, PA; at Fruition Seeds in Naples, NY; and in private homes and gardens far and wide.
The team is careful to share free resources on saving and sharing seeds. Petra created them and shares them and many other free resources on Fruition Seeds’ website.
Fruition is in the process of transitioning to a cooperative business model as Petra, Matthew, and the Fruition team open to and learn more about seed sovereignty, indigeneity, settler colonialism, and capitalism.
What materials were bought for The Dirt on Grief were bought at small, local businesses and on foot.
There is slated to be a talk to accompany the installation at The Meadows in FDR Park. Inviting a local speaker will keep the project’s climate impact as minimal as possible.
Community members have asked if they may create their own grief garden adjacent to The Dirt on Grief: How To Thaw Your Own Heart in The Meadows. Our team is now collaborating on bringing that offering to life as a space for those suffering losses to connect with Earth and one another.
Gath, Goldsaito, and Page-Mann share a longtime commitment to supporting humans being the creatures we are. The team supports one another and their communities in addressing biases and systemic inequities and strives to, with one another’s help, learn, grow, and put into practice an ever-deepening and widening ethos of inclusion, equity, diversity, and belonging.
Collective Action and Movement Building
Share a Climate Impact Report on artistscommit.com
Share our findings with audiences and participants
Consistent conversation with project partners about climate commitments and priorities
Artist used the Gallery Climate Coalition’s Carbon Calculator to calculate carbon used in the exhibition.
Artist used Ki Culture’s Social Sustainability Ki Book in working on the Supporting People part of this CIR.
Credits
The Climate Impact Report was prepared by the artist, Jessica Gath, based on a template available at Artists Commit. At The Meadows at FDR Park Tara Anastasi, Tymeir Price, Tahir Abdulshaheed, Friends of FDR Park & Wild Seeds Learning Community supported these efforts. This project would not exist in any form without the inspiration and collaboration of Katrina Goldsaito, Petra Page-Mann & Fruition Seeds.