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G.E.E.E. at Union Art Center

June 9, 2012

We are thrilled to welcome Chicago-based artists, Patrick Thornton and Kurt Messerle, part of the Cream Co. collaborative, to Omaha for a residency with The Union. Patrick and Kurt will be in Nebraska from June 5th through the 12th working on several urban agriculture projects on the property surrounding our buildings in North Omaha, including The BIG Dig Gig.

The Big Dig Gig is a project of Cream Co. through its campaign General Economy Exquisite Exchange (GEEE) that seeks to demonstrate how local abundance supports a general economy.

During their residency in Omaha, Patrick and Kurt will install and operate General Economy, Exquisite Exchange (GEEE Union): a post–retail site for the donation and exchange of plants. Through GEEE, The Union, Cream Co., and the greater Omaha community will install The Union’s Abundance Garden: an ongoing resource for gardeners to deposit surplus plants and to withdraw plants that need to be thinned.

On Saturday June 9th and Sunday June 10th, Cream Co. will open their post-retail shop where neighborly trade is the operative currency. A wide variety of heirloom tomatoes, and other plants will be available for sale at low prices or for exchange. Stop by to exchange plants, gardening books and cookbooks, recipes, or any other thing you’d be willing to share with a neighbor.

We would also like to invite you to help us plant some gardens on the Union’s property during the event… please feel free to bring your family and friends (and a shovel or two!) to help us make our block in North Omaha a bit more beautiful! Here’s the scoop

When: Saturday June 9th and Sunday June 10th | 10am – 3pm

Where: The Union | 2417 Burdette Street, Omaha, Nebraska

What to Bring: Plants from your garden, seeds, seedlings, tools, cookbooks, etc to donate or trade

This project is held in conjunction with an artist exchange program organized by the Stockyard Institute (Chicago) in development between the Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago) and The Union for Contemporary Art (Omaha).

The goals of this collaboration are to:

  1. Demonstrate how local abundance supports a general economy.
  2. Encourage neighborly exchanges of plants and gifts to reveal how trading within a community of common values can operate in tandem with monetary exchanges.
  3. Exchange Chicago’s abundance with Omaha’s abundance.
  4. Encourage the community to reveal its abundance of surplus perennials and shrubs and to deposit them at Union, establishing the Union’s Abundance Garden.
  5. Empower participants to discover their own inherent abundance and offer an environment for exchanging it with others.