Marble House Project is an Artist in Residency program that fosters the principles of sustainability within our own campus and community. We educate each artist on the basics of living sustainably so they can take that information back to their own community and families. Hopefully this practice creates exponential growth. The definition of sustainability is the study of how natural systems function, remain diverse and produce everything it needs for the environment to remain in balance.
On our farm we strive to grow as much of our own organic fruit and vegetables as possible, to meet the needs of our residency program, and events we host within our facility. We respect our soil and watershed, so we never use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We make our own compost to topdress our planting beds.
We limit water use by mulching with natural materials such as shredded leaves, from our own property, or bark mulch, which is a by-product of a local lumber mill. When the need for irrigation arises we use drip lines limiting the amount of water lost to evaporation thus lessening the amount of water used. Future plans include installing a rainwater collection system to assist with our water needs.
We also source food from local purveyors, which helps support our local economy and reduces the carbon footprint of each food item provided.
Our waste system is setup to encourage recycling and composting. We provide labeled bins so our residents know what is recyclable and compostable versus garbage. Our compost breaks down over time and is eventually returned to our soil. Our goal is to have a ratio of 80% recyclable and compostable to 20% garbage.
Energy use is at the forefront of our education program. All of our lighting comes from energy efficient bulbs. Every kilowatt counts towards making a cleaner environment for all. Energy efficiency steps have been taken to reduce the amount of BTU’s needed to power our facility. Our goal is to install solar to offset our current energy needs.
Marble House Project educates 60+ artists a year in sustainable practice. We begin with the artists because of the historical role artist’s play in society as change-makers.
Marble House Project has hosted over 350 artists since 2014 in a range of disciplines including dance, sound art, painting, sculpture, mixed-media, new-media, music and composition, creative writing, non-fiction, poetry, film, photography, journalism and architecture and the culinary arts.. The multiplicity of our artist’s fields of study mimics the biodiversity that protects our planet. We believe that the principles of conservation and biodiversity extend beyond the environmental field and into the social makeup of our society.
