NUMEDIACY
Lick Run Revival, 2014-15
Two-channel video, South Fairmount Valley Architecture Station, found objects, Metropolitan Sewer District video
Numediacy’s installation specifically addresses the issue of the Lick Run Daylighting Project and explores the environmental and social effects on the neighborhood of South Fairmount on the west side of Cincinnati. The Lick Run empties untreated water directly into the Mill Creek watershed which subsequently empties into the Ohio River. The Lick Run Daylighting Project has recently received national attention not only because of its scope and scale, and that it’s one of the first of its kind in the United States (some 600 municipalities nationwide will undertake similar projects), butbecause it concerns the largest combined sewer overflow (CSO) in Cincinnati.
“The Lick Run is the final tributary of the Mill Creek before entering the Ohio River,” states Numediacy.“Though you won't find it on a current map because it's been buried in a 20-foot pipe for over 100 years. Plus, it's a combined sewer overflow. Under a federal mandate, the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati(MSD) is embarking on a bold project to return the stream to the surface and separate sewage from rainwater. In the current phase, 77 buildings are being demolished in South Fairmount, an area you may simply know as Queen City Avenue or Westwood Avenue. This is not just a story of a stream coming back to life, it's also a story of a struggling community—whatcan happen when a neighborhood gets bypassed.”
JGray and Caitlin Sparks of Numediacy have created an installation that uses documentary film to highlight the human effect on the neighborhood of South Fairmount and the environmental implication to the watershed of the Mill Creek, as well as to the Ohio River. In this multimedia installation, a 2-channel video projection with sound acts as centerpiece to the story and is joined with both an interactive map of the neighborhood and collected objects that document this historic environmental project. In addition to the gallery exhibition, Numediacy has created a site-specific piece in Fairmount that highlights a species of stonefly, a macroinvertebrate whose presence indicates the good health of a water system, as a symbol of the Lick Run project. This site-specific installation of a series of three large wind socks will fly over the site between Queen City and Westwood avenues throughout the exhibition.
Numediacy is a media production company comprised of creative professionals who specialize in documentary and promotional new media including fine video, photography, sound and music, installation, and implementation. Headed by JGray and Caitlin Sparks, Numediacyfocuses on social and environmental causes and issuesand seeks to promote environmental responsibility through new media and communication in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati.
Gray and Sparks have developed a multitude of projects together such as an artist series that highlighted mid-career and advanced artists working in their respective mediums; projects that have highlighted local food production; projects with TheDriftwood Institute, an organization that focuses on groundwater issues in Northern Kentucky; and Civic Soil. JGray is a recipient of an Emerging Artist Grant from the Kentucky Arts Council. Both Gray and Sparks serve on environmental committees including NKY Sierra Club, Licking River Watershed Watch, NKY Forestry, and The Green Umbrella.