Jason McDonald believes that environmental art is an intervention that intentionally manifests a dialogue with the materials, forms and uses of the place in which it is constructed. Using local materials to create his interventions, he addresses a place’s natural aspects and the impact human beings have on it. His projects have included creating sustainable housing in Abetenim, Ghana, mapping a 1000 mile journey through West Africa on a bamboo bicycle, designing a sustainable eco-resort on the banks of the Ganges in India, turning ideas into objects such as sculptures, staircases, doors, storefronts and furniture. He has mastered the building arts in adobe brick, bamboo construction, metalwork, woodwork, traditional masonry, cane and palm.
While in residence at McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Jason will create an ecological intervention in Brightwalk at Historic Double Oaks. His piece will address erosion and water quality issues in the stream, which flows through Anita Stroud Park.
Jason graduated from Middlebury College, VT, with a BA in Architecture, specializing in Native Architecture and Sustainable Practices.
Jason McDonald’s residency is supported, in part, by a grant from ArtPlace America, a collaboration of leading national and regional foundations, banks and federal agencies accelerating creative placemaking across the US.