{"id":27053,"date":"2023-02-15t13:39:56","date_gmt":"2023-02-15t13:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.planetforward.com\/2023\/02\/15\/celia-ledon-turning-waste-into-wonderful\/"},"modified":"2023-03-20t20:14:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20t20:14:53","slug":"celia-ledon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/celia-ledon\/","title":{"rendered":"celia led\u00f3n: turning waste into wonderful"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/img_0074_0.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"301\" height=\"226\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(anneliese forlenza)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>upon entering the innovation center at the george washington university in washington, d.c., one\u2019s eyes may gravitate towards the freshly brewed black coffee or the rows of tables to work on and supplies like rulers, scissors, and fabrics scattered everywhere, all signs of hard work. it was a craft-lover\u2019s heaven, reminiscent of a kindergarten art class (minus the scissors).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>at gw\u2019s innovation center, students are working on an installation with cuban artist and costume designer, celia led\u00f3n, for <strong>the kennedy center\u2019s riverrun festival on march\u00a022 to april\u00a022, 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>the festival is a celebration of the world\u2019s rivers and their role as life-sustaining and art-inspiring passages that course through our planet. with an emphasis on social responsibility, the center commissioned led\u00f3n to construct a large-scale figure-garment made solely out of plastic waste with the goal of raising awareness about the dangers of plastic in our waterways and everyday lives. the installation, metaphorically named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kennedy-center.org\/whats-on\/festivals-series\/riverrun\/shape-of-water-exhibit\/\">the shape of water<\/a>, will be showcased in april in honor of earth day.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/wortham--225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27320\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(erica wortham)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>aside from having an eclectic fashion sense, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.celialedon.com\/\">led\u00f3n<\/a> is known for designing garments from materials found in trash bins, recycling containers, and piles of unwanted clothes. high fashion runways, numerous art exhibitions, and even feature films, both in cuba and internationally, display her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>in the center of the room, and wearing her iconic chunky black boots and wide, black-rimmed eyeglasses, celia led\u00f3n was hard at work. she used a gigantic stapler gun to piece together flattened water bottles, which seem to be an omnipresent form of litter in the city. the center had collected hundreds of them. a student next to her melted pipettes with a heat gun. other students constructed ecobricks, plastic bottles stuffed with trash and other plastics to create a dense structure. \u201cit\u2019s all about trial and error,\u201d said led\u00f3n, as she explained the method to her madness. led\u00f3n didn\u2019t have a comprehensive plan of action for the installation, which is how her designs typically start. all ideas were welcome and would be considered as part of the installation in some way, yet it is too early to tell what it will look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>by helping with the installation, students earn service hours towards a course called food, nutrition and service, taught by tara scully, ph.d., director of the sustainability minor program and assistant professor of biology at gw. scully was also at the innovation center helping to brainstorm ways to transform the plastic. the kennedy center\u2019s international programming department is partnering with scully\u2019s class to assist in creating the installation. along with completing service hours at the innovation center, scully explained that her students have also been doing plastic audits by collecting plastic from areas in d.c., including rock creek park and different locations on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/img_0071_0.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"252\" height=\"336\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(anneliese forlenza)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>it\u2019s no secret that plastic waste and pollution has become a grave threat to the environment and human health. \u201cin the last 15 years, the u.s. has produced half of all the plastic that exists in the world,\u201d remarked scully. despite plastic\u2019s ubiquity, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd.org\/environment\/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-management-and-recycling-fall-short.htm\">only 9%<\/a> of plastic waste is recycled globally, according to the organization for economic cooperation and development. perhaps one of the most threatening forms of plastic is single-use, pieces of plastic that are made to be thrown out, such as water bottles, grocery bags, straws, coffee cups, and more. scully revealed that a large problem is that plastics are not entirely decomposable. rather, every time they break down, they become small pieces known as microplastics. further, microplastics can often contain toxic chemicals that leach their way into our everyday items, food, and most importantly, our bodies. unfortunately, \u201cmicroplastics have already been detected in both animals and humans,\u201d highlighted scully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>senior richard baltazar, a non-degree student, raised concerns that the installation is glorifying plastic, expressing worry that by making something aesthetically beautiful out of plastic, it\u2019s justification for using the material. \u201cpeople should be confronted with the stuff they don\u2019t really want to see,\u201d said baltazar. scully agreed and suggested that the installation include an important message that addresses the dangers of plastic such as photos of animals covered with plastic in our oceans. led\u00f3n wasn\u2019t quite sold. \u201ci\u2019m a smoker,\u201d she said, \u201cthe pictures of collapsed lungs on cigarette boxes don\u2019t phase me. it\u2019s the same for this.\u201d instead, led\u00f3n focuses on finding useful applications and exploring alternative ways to make real change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>during her meetings at the kennedy center, led\u00f3n learned that not only does the center use plastic cups for their events, but they also don\u2019t recycle them. scully,&nbsp;led\u00f3n, and erica wortham, director of the innovation center,&nbsp;are responsible for the initiative to collect plastic waste at the kennedy center itself, a change that the staff have seemed passionate about making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>for those not directly working on this installation, there are everyday ways to be more conscious about plastic use. on top of actively remembering to bring around reusable water bottles or opting for paper bags during the next trader joes run, people can pay more attention to projects like the shape of water that raise our awareness on the issue of plastic pollution. they can also take part in urging places in our communities to ban single-use plastic. above all else, led\u00f3n believes we must remember to \u201chave faith.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>cuban artist and costume designer, celia led\u00f3n, works with george washington university students in preparation for an upcoming installation at the&nbsp;kennedy center\u2019s riverrun festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11682,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4937,4938,4930,4914],"tags":[5040,5039],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-27053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plastic","category-pollution","category-science-communication","category-sustainability","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-the-kennedy-center"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- this site is optimized with the yoast seo plugin v23.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>celia led\u00f3n: turning waste into wonderful - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/celia-ledon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" 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