Contact:
Eric Sloss
412-268-5765

For immediate release:
June 1, 2006

Carnegie Mellon's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry LifeBoat Project Documents Life on the Ohio River

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University STUDIO for Creative Inquiry Fellow Carolyn Lambert will soon be navigating down the Ohio River in an ecologically retrofitted pontoon boat to create an audio documentary featuring people who live in towns and cities along the river's edge. Beginning June 19, Lambert will take the Ohio River LifeBoat Project down the 981 miles of the Ohio River and meet with residents of river towns, who are invited to join round-table discussions about the significance of the river in their lives and participate in an audio documentary of collected stories.

The boat is scheduled to stop at 60 towns and cities, where towboat captains, coal mine workers, farmers, fishermen, educators, policymakers, recreational boaters and children of all ages will share stories with each other about their lives and the river. An estimated 500 people from Ohio River communities are expected to participate in LifeBoat gatherings. The public can follow LifeBoat's progress on the project's Web site at www.ohioriverlifeboatproject.org.

"When I began asking people about their experiences on the Ohio, the stories that came up — swimming in industry outfalls; jumping off steep, rusty pylons; dodging coal barges — sparked a curiosity to know more," said Lambert. "I was hooked."

Lambert will create an audio documentary, compiled and edited from interviews and recorded conversations. "I'm mainly interested in the history of this river as a 'working river,'" Lambert said. "I am interested in recording the perspectives of the people who work on the river and those who fish, swim and otherwise recreate on the river. The documentary will be recorded over dinner conversations and interviews with participants and will focus on the ways in which the multiple uses of the river overlap and interact — and are sometimes in conflict."

The boat that will carry Lambert and her crew down the Ohio has a story itself. Abandoned by its owner, it was rescued by the LifeBoat team, who retrofitted it using mostly reclaimed materials. For instance, the dining table and chairs are made from oak flooring, the galley is being made from a door, and vinyl siding and two solar panels will be attached to the roof to provide most of the electricity. The LifeBoat uses a gravity-fed water filter that cleans water directly from the river and is suitable for drinking, cooking and bathing. The crew will rely on a composting toilet for all solid waste.

"The Ohio River LifeBoat Project's approach to story-gathering, community participation, river travel and environmental awareness is unconventional," said Mary Steinmaus of Rural Action Ohio, an economic development non-profit in Trimble, Ohio. "The desire to take an unusual and complex approach comes from [Lambert's] true curiosity."

This project is supported by the Ford Motor Company, the National Wildlife Federation, the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research at Carnegie Mellon, the Sprout Fund, Ingram Barge Company, the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, the mayor of Braddock, individual donations and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts through a grant to the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry.

"On the LifeBoat, we are both part of the river and outside it, observing, talking to people about their perceptions and river knowledge. We are creating opportunities for social exchanges on and about the river," Lambert said.

Carnegie Mellon's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, founded in the College of Fine Arts in 1989, aims to support creation and exploration in the arts — especially interdisciplinary projects that bring together the arts, science, technology and the humanities — and impact local and global communities. The College of Fine Arts is a community of nationally and internationally recognized artists and professionals organized into schools of Architecture, Art, Design, Drama and Music, and their associated centers and programs.

For more information about the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry or the College of Fine Arts, contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.