Land, Art and Experience of Place

Inspired by a sense of wonder, and a commitment to creativity and sustainability, LEAP is an experimental, interdisciplinary, artist-driven, initiative. LEAP arts events, adventures and classes are set to explore, in a variety of forms, the richness and diversity in the ecology of the places where they occur: wilderness, flora and fauna, ancient and contemporary cultures, geology, the strands of our community and the interdependence of all of these things.

LEAP seeks to deepen our appreciation and understanding of and relationship to and our environment and our human and non-human neighbors; to increase our commitment to protecting these places and relationships and fostering creative responses and expresses of them in contemporary art and culture.

LEAP is intended to function as an interdisciplinary networking hub, connecting artists with conservationists, Land Management organizations and practitioners in other fields. A passion for experiencing and protecting wilderness is at its core.

LEAP works with art as a form of fieldwork and an investigative technique for research with expanded parameters and outcome possibilities. Artists, as cultural creatives, are encouraged to team-up with practitioners in other fields to explore, document, study and “express” different environments, areas and problems. LEAP investigates and actively examines the meaning and applications of the word “resource” and “management.”

Place, environment and the particularities of locality are central to this program. According to Einstein, “All action is local.” For many artists, nature is a great source of inspiration, but through LEAP artists and the public alike are encouraged, to go beyond observation; to interact with, participate and volunteer in the places around them. Familiarity is the first step toward appreciation and appreciation is the first step towards conservation.