Lombard Native Creates Artwork Exploring Critical Water-Quality Issue & Solution

Little did Lombard native Christine Esposito know when she first learned of the innovative recovery of phosphorus pollution from Chicago-area wastewater and its transformation into non-polluting fertilizer that it would inspire artwork. But it did.

Cycle P15 is both an art installation and game inspired by and celebrating this clean-water initiative of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD). The project was selected to be part of Chicago Artists Month and will be on view at the Water Reclamation District's Hugh H. McMillan Pavilion, 111 E. Erie, Chicago, through November 27th. Admission is free.

"When I first learned of the MWRD's phosphorus-recovery initiative from MWRD Commissioner Debra Shore, her enthusiasm for the innovation helped kindle the same in me," says Esposito, president of Terracom, a 25-year-old Chicago communications firm that connects innovators to help them collaborate in developing new ways to engage people in pressing environmental issues. "It really is exciting to think that you can have something that is a critical nutrient for all life that becomes a pollutant, then cycles back to becoming a nutrient again - in a way that results in both clean water and a needed product."

A Natural Fit

Esposito says that when she received a call for proposals for Chicago Artists Month projects that focus on innovation in Chicago, the MWRD's phosphorus-recovery initiative came to mind. She set about assembling a team of artists to create what would become Cycle P15.

Cycle P15 is designed to be a fun and engaging way to build awareness of a critical water-quality issue, advances in addressing it and actions residents can take to help.

Twister - without the twists - is among its inspirations, with the floor serving as the game board and colored circles guiding players' next moves. The circles, which contain icons representing steps in the phosphorus-recovery process, emanate from an easel, where three augmented-reality artworks punctuate the play. With augmented-reality artwork, any mobile device set up with a free, downloadable app pointed at an image or object will see both the image or object and an artist's augmentation of it. "It's like magic," says Esposito, "just like phosphorus recovery is."

Trivial Pursuit™ is another inspiration, with players advancing in the game by answering water-related questions that both entertain and educate.

Game On!

The artists recently held a Cycle P15: Game On! event, where guests had a chance to play the game. After attending the event, a representative of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events approached Esposito about having Cycle P15 be part of an upcoming Up All Night With Architecture - Family Overnight event, part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Though the timing wouldn't work, "It was definitely an honor that they wanted Cycle P15 to be part of the Biennial," she said.

Esposito explains that since she founded Terracom in 1990, the firm has been dedicated to effecting positive change through strategic communications. Working with forward-thinking clients, she has brought attention to a host of environmental and sustainability issues. She says that, while the need remains - and is even more - urgent, the communications landscape has changed dramatically. This shift has helped spur her to pursue new ways to engage audiences in critical environmental issues. Art is one of them.

Logical Evolution

Terracom's new direction is a logical evolution for Esposito. As a child, she took art lessons from renowned Elmhurst artist Eleanor King Hookham, studied piano and played violin in the Willowbrook High School orchestra. After getting a Bachelor of Music degree, she obtained a Master of Landscape Architecture degree, after which she began her career in environmental communications. Cycle P15 is a manifestation of the merging of these passions.

Along with Esposito, the Cycle P15 artists are Annette Barbier and Adrienne Ciskey. Eva Baldinger, Daveenah Guise and Alex Congi, participants in the IntuiTeens program of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, were also on the team.

Cycle P15 is made possible by the support of the Board of Commissioners and staff of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which provided in-kind support. Sponsors are Terracom, Ostara and Black & Veatch.