Art Across America Highway Sculpture Builds Eco-Awareness, Civic Pride on Highway 19

Art Across America launches nationwide

"green art" project in Kona

Kona, H - July 15, 2008 - Just south of Kona International Airport there is construction underway. This time, it is not a new billboard or gas station that is going up: on a rocky outcrop at the entrance to the National Energy Labs of Hawaii, a team of artists and designers are building the first sculpture of the non-profit "Art Across America" initiative (www.artacrossamerica.org) that will build clean-energy kinetic roadside sculptures from coast to coast. The Kona sculpture, which will be finished by the end of summer, is a functioning vertical wind turbine with a tall center post and spiraling shape representing the energetic abundance of the marine life and DNA.

" Each of these sculptures is built with the region and the environment in mind, " says Jamie Vaida, the Bay Area-based artist responsible for Art Across America. Each unique sculpture is being built with recovered materials local to the building site and produces wind or solar energy that can be transferred back into the local power grid. The communities contribute input on the concept and design, as well as provide building materials and other support for the project. In addition to the project in Kona, sculptures will be created along Interstate 80 in Oakland, CA; Wells, NV; Green River, WY; Kearny, NE; Iowa City, IA; Elkhart, IN; Clarion, PA; and New York City. " When the sculptures are completed " says Vaida, " they become part of the local community. People will have learned more about alternative sources of energy, recycling, and how to work together to build whatever they can imagine. "

For this project, Jaime has recruited a team of uniquely talented individuals from across the country, which he describes as, " a whirling grassroots dynamo of organic sculptural invention and homegrown artistic enthusiasm. " Being a 100% non-profit initiative, everyone who works for " Art Across America " is a volunteer. The project is sustained by donors who believe that the public arts - in this case, community-based art with a sustainable energy message - is important.