Page 19 - the NOISE March 2015

SAVING POLLINATORS
and CReating BeautY
CW FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: Bija, Swallow Tail, Match Made, and Abundance are some of Erica Fareio’s most recent watercolors
BY gRaCe Fenlason
From a ground view, the eye travels up the roots of a tree, we are part of a magnificent world; this new project will con-
involving the kids. It’s going to beautify the space and do something really fun!” says Ms. Fareio.
The artist specifically is interested in the “nectar corridors” pollinators follow. Of the thousand-mile migratory routes pollinators travel in order to take advantage of a sequence of plants coming into bloom in the spring, Flagstaff is dramati- cally poised along the way, and simply by grooming flora in our own gardens, city landscapes and schools, the Flagstaff community can ensure the continued survival of the pollinator.
“we can also help by not using chemical pesticides, insec- ticides, buying organic, conserving water and being mindful in our own carbon footprint,” explains Ms. Fareio. “I want to increase awareness with this project, not just in schools, but in the community.”
The project will be funded partially by the Flagstaff Com- munity Foundation and the rest will come from donations through Terra BIRDS, a non-profit group of educators, gar- deners and youth advocates who “educates and empow- ers youth through gardening to help prepare them as the stewards of a sustainable future for humanity.” The program promotes health and wellness, as well as strength in the com- munity. Terra BIRDs engages local youth in four distinct pro- grams and serves 10 schools and over 600 students annually.
while Ms. Fareio is creating and installing the piece, Terra BIRDs is going to be working in the garden area with the kids and planting the plants the mural portrays, stringing the entire project together. The program was founded to address the challenging educational, environmental, and socio-economic issues we are facing as a community. They have multiple hands-on education programs that focus on sustainability-oriented education in public schools. The pro- gram especially serves youth and provides green collar jobs and life coaching.
“The entire project is in the spirit of beauty,” says Ms. Fareio. To find out more & help fund the Pollinator Mural, go to
TerraBIRDS.org. EricaFareio.com
| grace Fenlason is stopping to smell the pollen. arts@thenoise.us
up the trunk to the branches that stretch outwards. Ferns, fungi and flora in bright colors stand out against a tree and sky painted in hues of green form Verde, a painting by Flag- staff artist Erica Fareio and featured on this month’s cover.
Ms. Fareio has shown her work locally, and is recognized by her detailed, brightly colored pen and ink paintings. This spring, she will be taking on a new artistic endeavor — paint- ing her first mural at Marshall Magnet Elementary School, a collaborative project with the Regio Group, Terra BIRDs, and Flagstaff Cooperative Preschool.
Art has always been part of Ms. Fareio’s life. Originally from Riverside, California, the artist moved to Arizona when she was 12. she has lived in Flagstaff since 1996 and has at- tended both the University of Arizona and northern Arizona University. In her twenties she began to work as a river guide in Grand Canyon, where she began to fully develop her ar- tistic expression. while there, she brought watercolors, and over the years, grew her skills and mastered the medium of combining watercolor and ink. Her style has transformed and solidified to be crisp, bright, and detailed. she was a full-time guide for 15 years before shifting her focus completely to art.
Ms. Fareio has worked with acrylic, oil, pencil, charcoal, pas- tels, pen and ink and watercolor. she has experimented with sculpture, ceramics and tile, glass mosaics and become profi- cient in graphic and web design. she has spent time in Utah, Costa Rica, new York, and san Francisco, cultivating her skills. she has also chosen Grand Canyon as her primary subject and she portrays the canyon in a unique way, often utilizing moving waterways as a vivid focal.
West of the Moon, Winter Sun, Rainbow’s End, Criollo, the Museum of Northern Arizona, Arizona Stronghold & Zen Mountain Gallery are some of the places Ms. Fareio has shown her paintings; and she was named featured artist for the whale Foundation, an organization providing support services for the Grand Canyon river guide community.
she attributes a lot of her inspiration to emotions felt while in the Flagstaff wilderness and Grand Canyon environment, where a lot of her time has been spent, and she devotes her art to helping others appreciate nature as well. Her artistic goal is to help people see our time on earth is precious, and
tinue this journey.
Ms. Fareio is excited to start and is ready for the oppor-
tunity and creative development it will offer. “I would abso- lutely love to do more stuff like this in the future. who knows where this will go?” she asks. This project won’t be a huge step outside of her comfort zone, but it will be a new subject and cause for her.
The aptly titled Pollinator Mural Project, while still in the planning and fundraising phases, aims to begin in April and be completed by June. Its goal is to educate about Arizona pollinators and their importance, while sprucing up the blank space in the school’s courtyard area.
The plan for this mural, a landscape of Arizona made on a hardwood surface with acrylic paints, transitions from a day- time view of the Peaks to night in the desert, while monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, sphinx & hawk moths, leaf-nosed bats, and honeybees pollinate sunflowers and blooming cac- tus flowers, depicting a path traveled annually through the many bioregions of the state.
“I think these pollinators are just so beautiful, it translates well to my style of art,” expresses Ms. Fareio. The artist feels it will be an honor to paint them. “They are a super important aspect of the Flagstaff environment.”
For Ms. Fareio, it is her first time being involved in a proj- ect of this size and magnitude. “I know I am going to have to immerse myself in this project. I wanted to do it because I wanted to do something different. It seemed time to do something bigger and to do something with a directed cause,” says Ms. Fareio.
Accordingly, more than 218,000 of the world’s 250,000 flowering plant varieties, including 80% of the world’s species of food plants, depend on pollinators for repro- duction. For over a decade, biologists have been concerned about the rapid decline in pollinator populations, especially those that migrate between regions. More than 200 verte- brate and over 10,000 insect pollinators are now globally at risk, due to habitat degradation, climate change, insecticides and invasive plants.
“The project brings recognition to the importance of our pollinators and what we can do to help. And it’s going to be
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • MARCH 2015 • 19