31 Degrees Project Launch: Artist Riccardo Vecchio & Arborists Navé Strauss and Acacia Thompson
Join us for a presentation by artist Riccardo Vecchio as he launches 31 Degrees, a public, multi-site mapping and mural project which draws attention to ecological inequalities in NYC neighborhoods. 31 Degrees gives visibility to environmental injustice through disparities in tree coverage and sets out to work with City agencies, organizations and communities to plant trees in neighborhoods that need them most.
After the presentation, Vecchio is joined by Navé Strauss, Director of Street Tree Planting at the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, and BPL Environmental Justice Coordinator Acacia Thompson, who also is a community greening activist leading Greenpoint Tree Corps.
The conversation will be followed by audience Q & A.
About 31 Degrees
The project emerges from a recent collaborative study, part of a larger heat-mapping initiative in cities across North America, which heat-mapped parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx, helping identify areas of environmental concern. "31 Degrees" references one particular day in July when the temperature difference varied by that amount from one upper middle-class area in Manhattan, to one of the city’s poorest communities of color in the Bronx. The study found that due to low levels of tree coverage and green space, poorer neighborhoods, predominantly communities of color, are disproportionately negatively impacted by heat. Not only is heat distributed unequally in NYC, creating what is known as urban heat islands, but its distribution follows other patterns of inequality such as race and income inequality.
For 31 Degrees, Vecchio takes inspiration from old masters such as Albrecht Dürer (1471- 1528), and Albrecht Altdorfer (1480-1538), two artists considered the first landscape artists in the western canon who were painting trees and landscapes without religious or other contexts, appreciating nature for its own sake. With this background, Vecchio has created drawings of trees originally native to New York, such as pines, fir and spruce, indigenous trees that are less widespread with the onset of climate change.
About the Speakers
Riccardo Vecchio was born and raised in Milan. In 1994, after his studies in Italy and Germany, a Fulbright scholarship brought him to New York to The School of Visual Arts MFA program. Since 2003, Mr. Vecchio has been a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts and lives and works in New York City. Mr. Vecchio's work has been published in a wide variety of magazines and other print media in the United States and abroad, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Penguin Putnam, La Feltrinelli Editore (Italy), Rolling Stone, Harper's, National Geographic, among others. http://www.riccardovecchio.com
Navé Strauss is an urban forestry leader with over 12 years of experience. He currently serves as the Director of Tree Planting for NYC Parks, where he oversees a team of 30 arborists, designers, and managers who focus on selecting and planting new trees along streets and in parks. Nave firmly believes in the power of connecting people--especially historically underserved populations--to nature and green space.
Acacia Thompson is Brooklyn Public Library’s Environmental Justice Coordinator at the Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center. Acacia’s work is focused on environmental issues and education, and promoting equity. She is a founding member of Greenpoint Tree Corps, a street tree stewardship community group.
