No, wait. Last Friday, environmental activist J Henry Fair spoke about the dangers of consumerism and waste at McCabe Library.

Hmm, no. Last Friday, journalist J Henry Fair visited Swarthmore’s McCabe library to discuss his experiences documenting environmentally hazardous energy and extraction businesses along the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast.

Any of these introductions would be apt descriptions of the lecture given by J Henry Fair at Swarthmore last week. As much as Mr. Fair’s visit marked the opening of the exhibition of his simultaneously fascinating and horrifying work of environmental disasters, the part-artist, part-activist spent much of the 40 minute talk discussing the circumstances that create these scenes.

An image from Industrial Scars, a series by J Henry Fair

Mr. Fair highlighted the modern disconnect from the consequences of our decisions. Looking towards a lamp near the speakers podium—which he avoided standing behind, preferring to stay to its side, hands in his pockets, head slightly downturned—he asked us to consider “Where do we get the magical juice that powers a light bulb?” and “What are the consequences of the magical box (the iPad) in our hands, that we paid just $300 for?” The consequences of our consumption are staggering, as his images of vast landscapes, darkened by drilling and dumping, illustrate.

In talking about his work, Mr. Fair came to the question of whether he is a journalist, activist, or artist. “What you see is what was there,” he said, explaining that he had not manipulated the images in order to intensify a message. Instead, the photographs are a narrative representation of a crisis that many of us choose to blithely ignore. When asked what about the intention of this narrative, Fair asked us all to consider, “Are we citizens or are we consumers?” The question, which draws a line between informed participants in the life of our society, and mindless shoppers buying up whatever brands we identify with the most, is one of many that the exhibition evokes.

J Henry Fair’s visit marks the first Mellon Tri-College Creative Residency of the spring. It is sponsored Richter Professor of Political Science and Chair of Environmental Studies, Carol J Nackenoff. Mr. Fair will return for the second part of his residency February 18^th, where he will work with Environmental Studies and Fine Arts students and faculty. To catch a glimpse of the exhibition, visit Industrial Scars.

This spring Mellon Tri-Co programming will double, with nearly a dozen artist visits on all three campuses. Events start this week, with a visit and exhibition by renowned photographer J Henry Fair. Next month, documentarian Louis Massiah will begin work with students from the French and Film Studies programs at Swarthmore in the development of their own film. Jenny price also returns for the first two-weeks of a four-week residency to collaborate with students and faculty from Environmental Studies, Sociology, and Political Science, on all three campuses in the creation of a Tri-College wide art event.

In March, in conjunction with the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery exhibition of work by Hank Willis Thomas at Haverford, we will host the first of two panels on the issue of race, sports and commercialism. Later in March, we will welcome distinguished calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya for a series of lectures and workshops with Political Science and Arabic Students. Also that month, the program will host award-winning filmmaker Judy Irving in a residency with faculty from Anthropology, Political Science, and Art History that will feature screenings of her work as well as class-visits.

In April, filmmaker and festival curator Shari Frilot, working with students in Gender Studies, Film Studies and History, will begin a month long residency that will include a partnership with the Schuylkill River Center. At Swarthmore, the program will support visits from numerous filmmakers to explore the issue of film and politics, including Jon Cohen, screenwriter of the sci-fi thriller, Minority Report. Finally in April, we will welcome prominent graphic novelist Jessica Abel for a series of class visits with English and Fine Arts students, lectures and a workshop with students and members of the community.

The spring promises expanded collaborations between faculty and students at the Tri-Colleges, and a plethora of opportunities to engage with world class artists from a wide variety of mediums and at different levels of intensity. Also, the spring brings the promise of real, honest-to-God updates on all of our events, including summaries and photos. To see a full schedule of events visit the main Mellon Tri-College Creative Residencies page, or contact residency coordinator, Tom W Bonner at tbonner@haverford.edu.

There are two goals that the Tri-College Creative Residencies aim to achieve, which in turn are meant to accomplish a singular broader objective. The first and most obvious goal is to increase collaboration between faculty and students at the three campuses. The second more challenging goal—and what attracted me to the job in the first place—is to integrate the arts into traditionally non-artistic curricula. Through the achievement of these goals, the program aims to encourage students and faculty and artists to think about a familiar subject in a new way; to challenge an established perspective with critical, creative thinking.

This dynamic learning process, referred to popularly as STEAM (science, technology, arts, and mathematics) has gained momentum in recent years and is a driving force behind programs like the Tri-Co Creative Residencies.

This fall, as the program launches we will be working with visual artists to explore disability, a choreographer to understand mathematics, and an obituary writer to examine sociology—and all of this is really experimentation. The goal of the program, as documented here, will be to develop programing and curricula that truly push the envelope of how students, artists and faculty traditionally collaborate and grow as thinkers.

This blog will feature previews, reviews, guest entries, and general speculations.

Stay tuned.