DENVER – FEMA Region 8 has selected a proposal from artists Nathan Hall and Drew Austin as part of a project to raise risk awareness and promote disaster risk reduction activities through art. This will be the second work created under the innovative public-private partnership known as FEMA ArtWorks.
In collaboration with RedLine Contemporary Art Center, artists were invited to submit proposals that communicated our relationships with natural hazards, along with potential impacts across all segments of the community. The intended outcome was to inspire thought on how individuals can mitigate risk.
Hall and Austin proposed their artwork titled Floodline Chime Pavilion, a mobile windchime pavilion constructed of playable chimes that outline the contours of the floodplain in the Denver neighborhoods of Overland Park, Rosedale, and Ruby Hill. Participants will be able to play the various pitches of the chimes using strikers made from wood washed in by floodwaters and listen to short poetic music works from singers that illuminate the risks. By interacting with this work, residents physically come to terms with the flood risk existing in their neighborhood. The installation will be set up in parks and green spaces for one-day public events and supplemented with short performances of mitigation-themed compositions for choir and chimes.
Floodline Chime Pavilion builds on the success of the first public artwork commissioned by FEMA ArtWorks, an outdoor sculptural installation titled Community Forms. Community Forms was created by artist Matt Barton in 2021, and is located at the TAXI campus in River North Art District (RiNo), Denver. To view a video about Community Forms and learn more about the ArtWorks program, visit fema.gov/region8.