HOUSTON
BLUE CRAB LABRYINTH
Help a baby crab find its way home!
A blue crab is plucked from Galveston Bay by an egret and dropped in a parking lot near downtown Houston. Can it find its way home through bayous, a shipping channel, trash, noise pollution and nurdles?
UH students worked with PearlDamour and Sascha Francis of the Galveston Bay Foundation to transform hallways and classrooms into an epic, interactive journey.
Goal 𖤣𖥧.𖤣𖥧.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Help audiences understand the interconnected waterways of Houston and the human-made threats to its ecosystems.
Process 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
We reached out to 6 local Houston environmental organizations to join a meeting about what issues were most pressing to them and brainstorm a list of first ideas of what the station could be. Of the organizations on our first call, Galveston Bay Foundation, Houston Advanced Research Coalition (HARC), and Another Gulf Is Possible were able to fully engage with the process and product, with some additional consulting by Bayou City Water Keepers and Buffalo Bayou Conservancy.
After exploring a range of ideas together, we landed by consensus on a Blue Crab Journey: a blue crab is plucked from its Galveston Bay habitat and dropped in a parking lot. We listed the stressors the crab would encounter in the city and brainstormed how they could be represented in abstract fashion in the theater lobby. PearlDamour made contact with the *large* UH theater education class; this station happened to fit perfectly into its curriculum. The class divided into 5 groups, each taking charge of a “stop” along the journey. The students’ imaginations took the concept to new heights – making a trash installation hallway, a sound installation in a dark room, building crab puppets and crafting a nurdle game made from packing peanuts.
Partners 𓇢𓆸
Galveston Bay Foundation, H.A.R.C., UH Theater Education Class, Buffalo Bayou Conservancy, Bayou City Waterkeeper and Another Gulf is Possible
Magical Moments in our Process
☁︎
Magical Moments in our Process ☁︎
☁︎ When we realized our simple and abstract journey has been transformed by the theater education class into a “full haunted house,” taking over large parts of the theater building.
☁︎ When Sasha volunteers to bring actual Marsh Grass in buckets to be part of the installation.
Budget ༄
PearlDamour: $250 to UH class for supplies. Galveston Bay Foundation donated living swamp grass and other supplies. In-Kind donation of planning and making time from our partner organizations, UH students and teachers.