HALEY MELLIN | THE JOURNAL GALLERY
Haley Mellin, CW 15.4671°N, 90.7777°W, 2022, Gouache on canvas, 21.75 x 25.75 inches (framed), 55.2 x 65.4 centimeters (framed)
HALEY MELLIN
THE JOURNAL GALLERY
TENNIS ELBOW 109
December 12 – 17 2022Artist Policy
We are facing a climate emergency. By committing time to a conversation and shared planning, we begin to understand what is needed to support a balanced and healthy global climate. Education raises awareness which introduces a shift in action and behavior. As explained by writer Jonathan Safran Foer, climate is a word to describe long-term weather, and weather is atmospheric; it exists around us, all. Achieving climate balance is necessarily an inclusive challenge: it is global, it is personal, and it is every day. This artist’s practice focuses on environmental justice and biodiverse sustainable evolution. She devotes most of her time to land conservation. These paintings are a part of the recording that she is doing while working on conserving land.
Presenting Partner Policy
The Journal Gallery follows climate-conscious practices, including the use of file sharing links, QR codes, and cloud servers to reduce energy and paper use. Further reductions in emissions are garnered by setting temperate AC and heat levels and by optimizing in-gallery storage space through tall racks and a well-organized system. For in-office beverages and for exhibition openings, the gallery uses compostable cups, recyclable glass and aluminum, and actively recycles. For off-site dinners, the gallery rented reusable materials rather than using single-use dinnerware. The gallery prints only on-demand and encourages the reuse of packing, display and shipping materials whenever possible.
The gallery supports artists in making changes to reduce carbon emissions. To illustrate this process, the changes for this exhibition, “Tennis Elbow 109” are noted here. The gallery supported the artist travelling with the paintings to New York from California as passenger cargo, which shifted the packing needs from crate to recycled cardboard and which removed the ground transit of unique packages since they travelled with the artist. As an exhibition space, the gallery uses pre-existing walls. There were no new walls built for this exhibition. One piece of furniture – a pedestal – was incorporated into exhibition planning and was borrowed from a nearby gallery in collaboration with Barder.art and their co-founders Jae Cho and Laura Lupton.
The Journal Gallery focuses on healthy, local, vegetarian meals, in addition to supporting chefs who focus on vegan or vegetarian food. There were two events for the exhibition. The first event – the opening – was in the gallery and used compostable and recyclable drinking containers. This was a zero-waste event. The second event – the dinner for the exhibition – was at a local home and engaged a local chef, Mina Stone, who prepared the food items prior to the event. The dinner was vegetarian/ vegan and it was served buffet style so that unused food was re-packaged and consumed later. There was minimal waste and the food waste from this event was composted.
Production Partner Policy
Ringseis Designs is located in Fairfax, California. It designed and produced the frames for this exhibition. Ringseis Designs is a zero to low waste frame shop, which accounts for lower prices and moldings being cut in a strategic manner to reduce unused portions. They offer sustainable wood sources and molding companies that plant a tree per frame purchased. Employees live within 3 miles of the business and the company supports human-powered modes of travelling to work. At the shop, reuse is prioritized, and small scraps of materials that are left over are either reused or given to local artists. The proprietor focuses purchasing on non-toxic materials. The staff are paid fair and transparent wages.
On location, photo by Bob Mellin
Carbon Emissions: Summary of Metrics
Travel: 2.22 tCO2e
Carbon footprint (5,119 miles, 2 domestic flights): 2.22 (tCO2e)
Emergy: 0.14 tCO2e
Carbon footprint (building energy): 0.14 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (artwork energy): 0 (tCO2e)
Shipping: 0.42 tCO2e
Carbon footprint (2,559 miles air freight): 0.21 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (572 miles road transport of artwork and event materials): 0.11 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (other cars): 0.08 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (local artwork transportation): 0.02 (tCO2e)
Other: 1.05 tCO2e
Carbon footprint (event food and drink): 0.12 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (printing): 0.01 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (packaging): 0.01 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (visitor travel): 0.24 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (staff travel): 0.14 (tCO2e)
Carbon footprint (art materials): 0.08 (tCO2e)
Total Calculated Emissions: 3.832 tCO2e
Carbon Emissions: Summary of Actions
As of December 2022, the date of this report, carbon emissions accountability is voluntary in the United States. As such, an artist elects what to calculate and then proceeds with the calculation. This report follows the advising that as much information be assessed as possible, with energy, shipping, and travel being the largest contributors to a carbon footprint at this date. For this exhibition, the following emissions were calculated using the GCC V2 Calculator: Door-to-door artist travel to the exhibition, door-to-door artwork shipping to the exhibition, shipping materials, artworks materials, staff and artist support travel during the exhibition, energy used for exhibition and cloud computing, event food and drink for the exhibition opening, event staff travel, event location electricity, printing of chapbook in the exhibition. The calculation does not include the end-of-life emissions generated by the disposal of objects, materials used, site travel that involved other projects and purposes, emissions from packaging, and emissions from studio materials such as cameras, computers, and artist housing.
Based on the decision to create a carbon calculation for the exhibition, health, sustainability and decarbonization actions were taken that were beyond those previously taken by the artist. Some notable efforts engaged:
Materials used were focused on reuse of stored materials. For example, the mediums and a number of the canvases and the single panel in the show were supports retrieved from storage from past shows or efforts
The artist shifted from oil paint to gouache paint for this show to use a non-toxic medium
The artist handmade the white paint (most used color) to reduce material orders and single use tube waste
The artist travelled with the art to the city/gallery for the exhibition, using minimal and recycled packaging materials rather than crating the works
Event food was shifted to vegetarian/vegan mix and reusable dinnerware was rented, and compostable cups were used
Artist worked in walking distance of home and framed in walking distance of home.
For this exhibition, the artist donated to Strategic Climate Funds organizations, from the sale of the paintings. Funds received by the artist from the sale of artwork are going to support the conservation of old growth landscapes into new Permanent Protected Areas with locations selected with carbon protection and biodiversity in mind. The carbon impact of the conservation will be assessed in a report by Terra Global Capital. To support from a capacity building end, the artist volunteers her time in supporting the development of PACT (Partners in Arts Climate Targets) organizations and related sister organizations in 4 ways: 1) attending meetings and providing peer review feedback, 2) founding organization (Art to Acres), 3) providing 2022-23 fiscal sponsorship (GCC, Artists Commit, Art + Climate Action, Barder.Art), 4) co-founding organizations and supporting their development through locating grants and additional resources for growth (Artists Commit, Art + Climate Action). The artist recognizes that decarbonization of actions and the reduction of emissions is the main goal in this work.
Calculators: For research, reduction actions and final reporting
Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC): https://galleryclimatecoalition.org/carbon-calculator/
Sustainability Tools in Cultural Heritage (STiTCH): https://stich.culturalheritage.org/
Waste Report
Reuse:
to be reused for the same purpose as the original use
This includes paint, paper, canvas, stretcher bars, unused frame, boxes, cardboard and packing materials.
Some of the original shipping materials were labeled, saved, and will be reused when the show is over to repackage the artwork. The artist mainly used supplies already purchased rather than buying new supplies.
Storage:
items sent to storage, but without a clear plan for immediate reuse or repurpose
This includes unfinished paintings, mediums that may or may not be reused in the near term, and art materials that may or may not be reused in the near term.
The artworks are requested to be sold to exhibiting collections to reduce the amount of collection storage required. In the future, the artist would like to handmake their paints so to have less tubes to store.
Refuse:
item was not used at all and therefore potential waste was avoided
This includes avoiding the use of crates and foam, glass on frames, toxic paints, large canvases, toxic mediums.
The process of evaluating the exhibition during the planning stage and abiding by a sustainability budget led to reduced purchases and the shift toward using pre-existing materials.
Recycle:
items placed in the recycling bin
This includes boxes, paper, cans, jars and plastic containers. Composting of food stuffs in the studio and the event.
Reuse of materials was the primary focus. Recycling or waste were made when a reuse plan was not clear. In the future, less recycling could be done by: fewer purchases online, buying direct from store.
Landfill
items sent to a landfill
This includes store-bought painting containers, paint tubes, reused plastic wrap, used tape and packaging, plastic paint containers, scraps of canvas, corners of wood from building stretcher bars and frames, food wrappers.
Landfill items were mainly unrecyclable painting materials, or materials wherein a reuse plan was not generated. This includes store-bought painting containers, paint tubes, reused plastic wrap, used tape and packaging.
Consumable:
“consumed” during the exhibition
This includes printed chapbook shown in the exhibition and all food and drink.
Consumables were kept to a minimum and any remaining consumable waste was composted or recycled.
Supporting People
The below actions were taken to support people within the art sector:
Discussed completing a Climate Impact Report and making reduction planning a part of the exhibition.
Encourage climate-minded thinking within the project team.
Pay transparent, fair wages.
Prioritize working with BIPOC, femme-identified, and/or LGBTQ+ owned businesses and individuals.
Prioritize working with cooperatively-owned and/or local businesses.
Prioritize working with vendors who support climate action.
Consider ways to reinvest resources within local communities.
Create spaces free of racism, harassment and other forms of inequity.
Consider inclusion and needs of local communities in the project.
Collective Action
The below actions were taken to support collective action within the art sector:
Share a Climate Impact Report at artistscommit.com.
Share what was learned in the Report to audiences.
Ask project partners and collaborators about their climate policies, commitments, or priorities.
Learn from what other projects have done, connect with other institutions or artists to ask for advice, acknowledge them in your report.
Reached out to local networks doing this kind of work, in particular: Artists Commit, Barder.art, Art into Acres.
Propose other artists do a Report and SCF donation.
Offer to be available to advise or support other artists or presenting partners who want to do a climate impact report for the first time.
Use the report to refine future practices.
Share new practices adopted internally, with your artists, or with your audiences.
Haley Mellin, CT 15.4646°N, 90.7794°W, 2022, Gouache on canvas, 12.75 x 10 inches (framed), 32.4 x 25.4 centimeters (framed)
Additional Notes/Closing Thoughts
The project engaged in climate-conscious approaches. Key findings were learned, successful strategies implemented, challenges were faced, and areas for future improvement were found. The completion of this Climate Impact Report (CIR) came after months of planning, which saw shifts in practices due to the awareness that the CIR was a component of the exhibition. The CIR was strategic in implementing expanded sustainability commitment and education components to the exhibition, with a key aspect being ‘planning ahead.’ This is the first CIR completed by this artist at an exhibition of her work. She previously worked on supporting CIR the Pipilotti Rist exhibition at MOCA in 2021, one of the first CIR’s completed after their creation by Artist’s Commit. The process of supporting another artist first, helped in the planning and follow-through of this CIR.
There were some changes to the artist’s practice in the process of making the exhibition due to the CIR structure. After installing the exhibition, the artist wrote up the CIR, reflected and saw key ways future practices can be improved to 1) reduce carbon emissions further, 2) support SCF organizations and local sustainability organizations in more depth, 3) reuse existing materials in a closer to 100% fashion, 4) adopt practices that are not only non-toxic but also have reduced package-waste (handmake paints), and 5) expand educational experiences that include partners in the CIR process. Some highlights from the planning were:
Materials: Shift from oil paint which necessitate solvents to non-toxic gouache paint.
Construction: Pedestal borrowed. Thank you Barder.Art, Jae Cho, Laura Lupton and Laura Saenz.
Studio materials: Re-use of stored materials and re-use of old canvases from 2002 – 2022.
Framing: Local framing and stretching within 1,000 feet of studio.
Studio: Studio local, within 1 mile of artist’s home.
Shipping: Artwork travelled with the artist, rather than an independent shipment.
Packaging: Recycled materials were used were available.
Event food: Food was vegetarian/ vegan. Thank you to chef Mina Stone for creating the meal.
Event waste: Compostable and re-usable dinnerware were used.
Event: Hosted at a local home. Thank you to Sheree Hovsepian and Rashid Johnson.
Gallery: Sustainability is central. Thank you to Michael Nevin, Julia Dippelhofer, Kyle Wood and Juliet Hall.
Exhibition Info and Credits
CIR Prepared by Haley Mellin, Juliet Hall, Michael Nevin, Kyle Wood, Julia Dippelhofer, Elisabet Davidsdottir, Jae Cho, Laura Saenz, Adam Marnie, Jim Ringseis, J. Duncan Lowe, Mina Stone, Laura Lupton, Deville Cohen
Tennis Elbow at The Journal Gallery
45 White Street
New York NY 10013
Exhibition link: https://www.thetenniselbow.org/ArtistExhibitions/Haley-Mellin