As eco-artists and environmental activists, we are inspired by events and situations in the life world. Successful organizing has to be creative, and activist art has to be engaged in real organizing efforts; we work to merge these two approaches. Partnering with the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, “Recipes for Catch & Release” uses the medium of art to address the high levels of Mercury, PCBs and Chlordane in our waterways and to understand how these toxicants become concentrated in the fish we eat.

Our current art installation at Exit Art consists of oversized recipe cards featuring family photos of fishing outings and a color-coded line of the Hudson River running through the set of nine cards. In front of this wall display is a kitchen table on which sit a recipe box, a microscope, dinner plates, and samples of fish and sea food in petri dishes for viewing with the microscope. Color-coded recipes in the box on the table feature popular species of fish found in New York markets and regional waterways. Health advisories on each recipe card indicate how often the species can be safely eaten. For opening night, Saturday, April 8, 2006, there will be a whole fresh fish from a local market dissected with its organs placed in petri dishes for examination.

The first demonstration of this project took place at the "100% Centennial" show at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University in January, 2006. Conrad "Dan" Volz, DrPH, MPH and Chuck Christian, doctoral candidate, from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health led a team of students in administering a survey to assess the public's understanding of contaminants in fish. The survey was given before and after viewing our work. In addition, Dr. "Dan" answered questions posed by gallery visitors while they interacted with the installation. Results of the survey will be analyzed and posted to this site.

Fish have long been considered to be a healthy source for protein and Omega-3 fatty acids, but contaminent levels in most of our states' waterways have now risen to levels believed to negatively impact human health.The fish in our markets and in our rivers are born, grow, and live in waters of unpredictable quality. Mercury gets into the air from coal-powered power plants, and coke and steel mills. It is carried with the wind and deposited miles away from the source. PCBs have leached into the rivers from electrical transformers in landfills and industrial properties. Chlordane comes from pesticide runoff. These three are the chemicals or compounds that are of most concern and are known to cause human health problems.

We invite you to choose your favorite recipes (click on a fish at left) and join the fight to free our rivers and oceans of contaminants for the health of ourselves, our children and our planet.

Artist collaborators: Steffi Domike, MFA & Ann T. Rosenthal, MFA

Science Advisor: Conrad "Dan" Volz, DrPH, MPH

For more information on the safety of the fish in your area, see the following sites: US Environmental Protection Agency, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, New York State Department of Health