Artist is Batty for Rivers

Date: 
Friday, August 24, 2012
Rio Vista elementary student performs at the Rillito River Project’s Bat Night 2012
Rio Vista elementary student performs at the Rillito River Project’s Bat Night 2012
Photo: Tim Fuller

The Rillito River in Tucson, Arizona was a perennial river for the first part of the 20th century. After World War II, however, Tucson began a decades-long growth spurt that ran the river dry. Today, the river flows only during heavy rains, particularly during the torrential monsoon season. But life still thrives here. Most dramatically, some 45,000 Mexican free-tail bats roost on the underside of a bridge that spans the now-dry river. Beginning in 2007, a group of artists and environmentalists began what would be an annual celebration of the bats, and a call to action for the river. We talked to Ellen Benjoya Skotheim, the founder and creative director for the Rillito River Project’s annual “Bat Night.”

The Rillito River Project aims to raise awareness of the impact of overuse and climate change on the vanishing rivers of the Southwest. We try to increase consciousness of the delicate balance of life and river ecosystems in the desert through art performance and installations.

Many people in the area would drive over the river bridge and not even know it had ever been a river. They thought it was a dry wash. We’ve lost the riparian corridor and so much else. Our groundwater has been affected by the loss of the river, too. It used to be groundwater about 10 feet below the surface in that area; now it’s at 200 feet. We drank it, we pumped it for agriculture, we didn’t think of it as a resource that could disappear.

The bats fly at dusk every night, and the first thing they do is look for water. People are attracted to the bats, and also a little frightened of them. We draw them in with the bats, and then raise their consciousness about the river.

Rillito River Project creative director Ellen Skotheim
Rillito River Project creative director Ellen Skotheim
Photo: Tim Fuller

Bat Night is a community project. In the early days, I would put on impromptu Bat Nights with my friends, and it just kept growing. For our most recent Bat Night, a local choreographer gave daily dance lessons for a month to 120 fourth-grade kids from a school that backs up to the river. The kids also got lessons from a world-renowned bat expert. The kids’ families and community members helped make their costumes – some were bats, some were insects. We built a sand stage in the middle of the riverbed, covered it with carpets, and the kids performed beautiful bat dances for more than 5,000 people. At the end, everyone in the audience got to participate in a short bat dance. These kids will never forget that experience.

We also have our Art Lab project, in partnership with local universities and other partners. We bring six artists to Tucson each year to have an in-depth experience on environmental issues. They spend a week together, learning from experts and spending time in the local landscape; then they go home and make art based on this experience. I think artists can play a big role in helping the environment.

Rivers can only go forward in time. This river won’t come back in my lifetime, but we are making progress in raising people’s awareness about the river. That’s the first step you have to take – people wanting it to be a real river again. I also think that the problem in front of you may not be the problem you solve. We may still be able to save other rivers in the region.

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