Good luck to our friends at Cabin-Time at the start the of their fifth expedition, CT5: Green River. We’re looking forward to see what they’ll be working on in the dusty expanse of Desolation Canyon, Utah, especially our friends and previous Rabbit Island residents: Geoffrey Holstad, Sarah Darnell, Ryan Greaves, Mary Rolithsberger (CT3: Rabbit Island in 2012), Emily Julka (2012 and 2013), and Charlotte X.C. Sullivan (2013).
Miles Mattison, 2012 residency beta-tester arranging a collection of driftwood.
A quick reminder that the application deadline for a 2014 residency is in two days time (August 23rd, 2013). Make sure you have your applications in by midnight of that day if you would like to be considered for one of the supported residency positions next summer. Apply at: www.rabbitisland.org/art
This past Saturday ten high school students, an illustrator and a NOLS instructor returned from a week of isolation on the island–the first ever Rabbit Island School. We are excited to share the experience and ethics of Rabbit Island with the next generation of artists and conservationists. More on this to come, including art, writing and the harrowing tale of the island’s first kidney stone. Stay tuned!
We couldn’t be more excited about our collaboration with LOVELAND and WhyDontWeOwnThis.com. Imagine if Kickstarter, The Nature Conservancy, and Google Maps had a baby. We will use the graphic mapping technology that LOVELAND has developed in urban Detroit to crowdsource conservation in northern Michigan. Our beta test will evolve amidst the forested lands of the Keweenaw Peninsula, four miles west of Rabbit Island.
On the island we think a lot about wilderness in the context of art, civilization and sustainability. In Detroit LOVELAND is thinking hard about how to make land-based change happen in ways never before possible. We can’t wait to see what happens.
+ essay on culture + land use: there is no antonym for subdivision
It’s official. Our supported residency program has now launched and we are accepting applications for summer 2014 residents. Find out all the details and make your application here.
Storms, biology, swimming, plein-air painting, sauna building and lots of documentation… Catch up with some scenes from the summer so far on our Instagram where many of this years visitors have been sharing their research and views.
The progress on the tree-based studio I’ve been building on the south-southeast side of the island. This art installation / usable architecture will enable artists-in-residence to pursue their practices in a unique environment of the island.
I’ve hit a wall and don’t have enough funds to finish the cedar decking, however. Roughly $500 is needed to finish the structure. You can help me finish the installation this year so it can be used by the artists, architects, chefs, scientists and researchers who are arriving in the second half July.
Please support my Indiegogo crowdfunding effort which will only run for a few days. Every bit helps. Thanks.
– Andrew
Images and notes from the last two weeks on the island by Andrew Ranville.
I’ve been out on the island opening camp, preparing tools, equipment and materials for the artists visiting this year. They will start arriving in two weeks.
+ I’ve been working on completing the tree-based studio/platform installation which is along the prominent SW to SE ridge line.
+ Fireweed salads, a new forage experiment this year, have been great, but the plants are starting to flower and the leaves are becoming bit tough and bitter as the season shifts. I might have to start using the stems. Regardless, they have been a good source of greens on island, with many times the iron as spinach.
+ Scientists we've been collaborating with recently, John, Linda, and Tim, dropped by the island on the 5th of July. We explored the center of the island along the ridge to the highest point and then wrapped back around to the SW point. We observed primeval plants with significant variation across changes in elevation. There was quite a bit of lycopodium and some interesting areas of sedges, grasses, mosses and lichens. We also encountered evidence of rabbits in the high area of the island–popular consensus among the group was that we have rabbits living on the island now, or had them within the last couple years. (An obvious topic of conversation, given the name of the island.) We also scouted potential locations for live-trapping grids that will be used in an upcoming study of red-backed vole. Tim took samples of the algae along the coast.
+ Algae is quite pronounced this year along the entire coastline. Contributing factors could be the record-high lake temperature of the last few summers, a wet spring, or a very late spring snowfall which has left the island interior quite damp and leeching to the shoreline through the sandstone strata. Curious.
+ We have a noticeable and annoying presence of mosquitos this year, the first time in four years.
+ I stumbled across the remains of another log cabin a few days ago a few steps in from the lake along the NE shoreline. There were timber beams interlocked on the ground, nails and some various metal objects–all obviously placed a very long time ago. Oral history from the Lahti family of Rabbit Bay speaks of a simple fishing cabin built on the island sometime between 1900 - 1920. I figure this must be it.
+ More young eagle remains have been found. Over the last few years there have been signs of occasional eagle-on-eagle violence. The story seems to get more curious as I’ve found even more remains around the northern coastline, especially under the popular feeding/perching white pines. This year no young eagles have been seen in or around the nest and the female does not appear to have a mate. Maybe this report can shed some insight? If you study eagles please get in touch. This is potentially a good opportunity for research on the island.
The wind has picked up today making getting back to the island a bit dodgy so I plan on staying on the mainland and heading back to the island tomorrow.
– Andrew