from left to right: Sierra Club staffer Jan O'Connell with volunteers manage the booth at the event; The finished art mural by Maddison Chaffer; Maddison Chaffer, Artist
Environmental Activism came to the Grand Rapids Art Prize for the first time in 2022 during the kick-off weekend. The event was entitled, ‘The Pleasant Peninsula: Art & Activism Fair’ and took place in Rosa Parks Circle where there were booths from 18 artists and 12 organizations, including the Michigan Sierra Club. This event was initiated by a Grand Rapids native and muralist Maddison (Maddie) Chaffer with work by their organizer Erik Collin to celebrate Maddie’s Michigan-inspired mural “Seeking a Pleasant Peninsula.” The mural highlights Michigan’s biodiversity and the need for conservation activism to protect the Great Lakes state.
The entire Rosa Parks Circle was transfigured into an interactive art and activism fair with speakers, musicians, animal ambassadors and demonstrations that took place over six hours. Jan O’Connell, Michigan Chapter energy organizer, said “I’ve not seen an activism event have such a large turnout of folks interested in getting active on the environment. We had youth and adults stopping continually at our booth signing up to be involved with the Sierra Club, reviewing and discussing our energy-related activities in Grand Rapids and along the West Michigan Lakeshore. We blew through our membership blanks and we had an important action item, to protect the Great Lakes and shut down Line 5, that oodles of people used the QR code and materials we had available to make comments.”
O’Connell expressed support for the Art & Activism Fair to be a regular event at the future Art Prizes. Get involved in West Michigan Energy Activism by contacting Jan at jan.oconnell@sierraclub.org or 616-956-6646 or Tamara Horne at tamara.horne@sierraclub.org.