Ground|Work|Water is a landscape design studio with an emphasis on storm-water management run by Chris and Merideth Carl. Photo by Allison Macey
Urbana Land Arts and Ground Work Water are two organizations on a mission to help the community by raising awareness of environmental issues through art and eco-friendly initiatives. Christopher Carl founded both groups with the help of his friends and wife. Carl, a graduate of the University’s landscape architecture program, exhibits much passion when talking about his “landscape-based” organizations.
The purpose of Ground Work Water is to promote the idea of collecting land water. For example, there is a machine that collects rainwater from the gutters of a home, which can then be recycled for household chores and other needs. The organization wants to educate the residents of Champaign through open houses and outdoor exhibitions. Locals are also incentivized to integrate eco-friendly practices into their everyday lives through rebates given to those that participate in collecting land water. The reason that more cities are encouraging such practices is because “infrastructure is costly, there are impervious surfaces and too many buildings,” which is tampering with our groundwater. If more people collect and use land water for simple purposes, we can cut back on fresh water use.
Urbana Land Arts is more hands on. The name of the organization actually began as a joke between Carl and his friend, but it stuck. They do a lot of traveling to visit land that they’ve researched that may offer unique materials that they could find or build on there. One project the organization has worked on is taking over the former Allman’s Auto Body in Urbana, renaming it Allman’s Boneyard-Saline, where they hosted an exhibit of sculptures made from carts that they had found in a small forest in Saline, Ill.
The organization also started a program through Kickstarter in which locals could contribute to the project by adopting the carts for donations over $100 and receiving a gift in return. The organization is eco-friendly and endeavors to preserve or reconstruct items that they find and transform them into art.
Beyond their eco-crafty creations, they also clean up areas that have been littered by unwanted consumer products including shopping carts, televisions, mattresses and the like.
Urbana Land Arts is also currently working on a project and collaboration with Heartland Pathways. The collaboration is focused on turning the rundown hiking trails near Monticello into renovated and preserved nature trails. The group is also hosting an upcoming terrarium exhibition.
Volunteers are needed for their current project as well as future projects. If you are interested in getting involved, contact Urbana Land Arts at urbanalandarts@gmail.com.