Art Barge a floating tribute to Mon river life

Saturday, June 26, 2004

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The Art Barge is coming to seven ports-of-call along the upper Monongahela in July, bringing a cargo of art with an environmental twist of interactive learning fun. Here's your chance to get out and enjoy the river, paint a fish and perhaps do more than make a wish for a cleaner environment.

Part floating art studio, part aquatic museum and library, the Art Barge Project is a creative interpretation of the river that gives the Upper Monongahela Water Trail (UMWT) its name, using words and images gathered from those who live there.

UMWT is a 65-mile stretch of the Monongahela River running from Fairmont, W.Va. to Rices Landing. The Art Barge Project cheerleads trail efforts to encourage recreational use of the river while telling the story of the area's history and ecology. The project hopes to increase understanding, respect and appreciation of its fragile aquatic resources.

For a sneak preview of what art with an environmental twist looks like, stop by the Monongalia Arts Center in Morgantown. There, Cindy Snodgrass, Art Barge Project artist-in-residence, puts it all together - using maps, jugs of water, bamboo, painted fish and birds, photographs, artifacts and written musings about all things water.

Art Notes: Art barge to cruise education along Mon River

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

By Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Art Barge -- a floating museum/library/art exhibit/studio -- is being launched in July to tell the story of the Monongahela River, and project organizers are seeking input from community groups and individuals.

They're looking for loans of mementos of the Mon River and towns along it, including poems, letters, books, photographs, pottery and glass. Environmental artist Cindy Snodgrass will coordinate the creation and display of visual arts.