Robert Smithson's widow Nancy Holt sent a letter out today to notify people that his masterwork Spiral Jetty is in jeopardy of being destroyed due to oil drilling.

Here is Holt's full letter and a way for people to voice their concerns.

Yesterday I received an urgent email from Lynn DeFreitas, Director of Friends of the Great Salt Lake, telling me of plans for drilling oil in the Salt Lake near Spiral Jetty. See Attachments. The deadline for protest is [today] Wednesday, at 5PM. Of course, DIA has been informed and are meeting about it today.

I have been told by Lynn that the oil wells will not be above the water, but that means some kind of industrial complex of pipes and pumps beneath the water and on the shore. The operation would require roads for oil tank trucks, cranes, pumps etc. which produce noise and will severely alter the wild, natural place.

If you want to send a letter of protest to save the beautiful, natural Utah environment around the Spiral Jetty from oil drilling, the emails or calls of protest go to Jonathan Jemming 801-537-9023 jjemming@utah.gov. Please refer to Application # 8853. Every letter makes a big difference, they do take a lot of notice and know that publicity may follow. Since the Spiral Jetty has global significance, emails from foreign countries would be of special value.

They try to slip these drilling contracts under the radar, that’s why we found out so late, not through notification, but from a watchdog lawyer at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the group that alerted me to the land leasing for oil and gas near Sun Tunnels last May.

Thank you for your consideration of this serious environmental matter.

Posted by Meg at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Maybelle, my roommate's friends dog

So my final semester has commenced and I must say that I have been under a bit more stress than originally anticipated. I expected myself to have my schedule solid months ago but today I have finalized the classes I am taking. Today I had my first day of Black Power Fantasies with Stanford Carpenter that looks like it is going be great. There is a lot of reading in that coarse, (for next week we need to have 170 pages done) but it's a small class and he is trying to tailor some of it to our interests. I'm also taking the Wandering Uterus with Terri Kapsalis which I have only heard good things about and thought I should take it before I graduated. I am doing an independent study with Aimee Beaubien who is one of my top two favorite professors at the school. She teaches in the photo department and is really invested in her students. I just signed up for a Comic book of the Silver Age class and I must say that this class is probably the class I am looking most to.

Other than school I have the BFA show approaching quickly but I have my mind on other things. As my friends know I really want a dog. ( Now wanting a dog is not really trumping my thoughts on the BFA show but I think of it a lot) I've been on the French Bulldog Rescue Network and I must say that the dogs are so cute. Plus the network is really impressive with their attempts of matching up the right dog with the right owner. But I'm just not ready for a dog. I couldn't be there for it and I couldn't afford one either.

Posted by Meg at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry for the lack of updates. I am taking two winter classes right now for three weeks and they have been occupying most of my time. Well, I am back in Chicago, as you might have guessed, and I must say that all I can think about is how much I miss New York. I know that this might seem odd since I did talk about not being extremely happy while I was there but in retrospect I had a good deal. Taking 6 credits in the winter does not allot one very much time for their own work as I'm soon discovering. Plus having a studio and being able to attend so many galleries and museums should not be taken for granted. But alas, I shall get over my heartache soon.

This Spring will be my last semester and I have too say that just like New York I shall miss SAIC as well. But until then I have plenty of things lined up for the following four months. Aside from school and my own practice I have several trips planned. First off I should say that I won an award through the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) and will be attending CAA in February. I am looking forward to checking out some lectures that will be going on down in Dallas. In April I am going to go see Aretha Franklin in concert in Pittsburgh. This trip is a birthday gift from Lauren and I must say that I can't wait to see Aretha in person. The last thing I hope to do before graduating is make it out to New York with some of my former studio mates to see the Whitney Biennial.

Posted by Meg at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)