On behalf of water
Submitted Artists from the area have produced artwork based on how they felt after the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colo.
Art show expresses feelings of artists about Gold King Mine spill
Submitted
Artists from the area have produced artwork based on how they felt after the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colo.
FARMINGTON
When a plume of pollution surged downstream from the Gold King Mine spill, Shaun Beyale saw a change overnight at one of the favorite outdoor gathering spots by the Animas River for his family.
“From what I remember, the river seemed pretty high, and then once it came through it’s really dead because no one wants to go near the river, but then you see the animals there on the river,” he said. “They’re pretty much the only ones hanging out in the river.”
In 2015, Beyale, his wife and their young daughter had recently moved to a home near Farmington and frequented Berg Park in Farmington for picnics and family gatherings. After the August 2015 spill impacted his family, he expressed himself through art created for a Navajo art show called “On Behalf of Water” to feature reactions to the spill.
“Being an artist and trying to use my art as my voice to speak about the social issues of my community, and this incident just happened once I moved back here,” he said. “Yeah, it did effect me because I wanted my family to come here and be safe, but when you have something like this happen to the environment you can’t really do nothing about it and it’s hard to keep them safe. This happened by the government, which is supposed to keep you safe. For me, I just wanted to speak my voice.”
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