Final Project Proposal

 Abstract

My final project takes place at the Colorado River in the southern region at Needles, California. With a 25 year drought, a decline in the water available water in the river is continuous. Current guidelines for managing the water system are no longer effective for current water levels.  States now have a deadline for how they will manage the water system for the future and it is in October 2026. With unproper care and water management, the impacts can be detrimental as the river supplies resources for not only those along it but many major cities in the Southwest. The drought is continuing to get worse and the deadline for these new guidelines is simultaneously speaking to a deadline to help drought efforts. The project will be an intervention in the water with a sign of the date as a border/deadline itself. By putting this physical date in the water it is giving a new sense of reality to the urgency and direct impact on the water itself. 

Artist Statement 

My family has lived on the Colorado River for 45 years, growing up visiting, the river has been an important aspect of my life. As I have grown up here the river has been in a drought the entire time. Connecting the political deadlines, to the deadlines of climate issues, and also the change of my personal intervention in the space. My Grandma is moving and leaving here by October 2026 as well. The importance of the river stems from visiting my Grandma here, as that comes to an end I start to think about the distance I will now have from the Colorado River. There is a change in the river, and in my life,  and I want to show that change. 

These images are from past projects and resemble inspiration for my final images that will be produced. The sign will be central with light highlighting it, the sketch is very loosely an example of what it will be. 

Final proposal 

The location for this project will be down at the water, in front of the homes occupied by my relatives and family friends. I will be on the rock lined beach working to create a physical and metaphorical deadline in the water. Using a large piece of plywood, I will paint on the date of the deadline: October 1, 2026. Along the shoreline of the river, where the water meets the sand, is where I will stand this piece of wood up. It will act as a wall, a border, where the edge of the river stops. It is the deadline of the water itself and the physical deadline there as well. The documentation will be photography, set up on a tripod with the sign central to the image. Taken during the evening with a light highlighting the sign itself. 

Production

Materials used: Paint, brush, plywood/driftwood/board. Camera (Sony a7ii 35mm 1.4), tripod.

Timeline: 07/03: arrive at the river, create painted piece

07/07: Use 5 days to create piece in the river. Leave location. 

07/08: Full project on blog 

Budget: Around $40-60 for paint or wood if needed.