GAMA to Welcome Film Screening and Ecosex Walking Tour, Sept. 9 and 10 

The Gregory Allicar Museum of Art (GAMA) has announced two programs with multi-media performance artists Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens on September 9 and 10. Both events accompany the current exhibition Reclamation: Recovering Our Relationship with Place—on view in the Griffin Foundation Gallery until September 19—and are presented in collaboration with the Colorado State University Energy Institute and the Department of Art and Art History as part of the worldwide art project Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss.

Sprinkle and Stephens will screen their 2017 film Water Makes Us Wet on Thursday, September 9, at the Lyric, an independent cinema in Fort Collins. The program will begin at 9 p.m. on the outdoor stage with an introduction and Q&A discussion by the artists, who will also talk about their new book, Assuming the Ecosexual Position: The Earth as Lover (Minnesota University Press, 2021).

Water Makes Us Wet stars Sprinkle and Stephens in a trip around the Golden State as they meet with biologists, water treatment plant workers, scholars, and other artists to chronicle “…the pleasures and politics of H2O from an ecosexual perspective,” according to the film’s website. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $8 for students and seniors through the Lyric. A free water bar with plain and infused options will also be made available to all viewers.

“If you love water—and who doesn’t—you will enjoy our movie,” say the artists. “We’re looking forward to meeting and greeting the local aquaphiles, artists, and activists.”

On Friday, September 10, Sprinkle and Stephens and their team of punk rock boot camp counselors will lead an Ecosex Walking Tour of the Cache la Poudre River at Whitewater Park from 4 to 5:30 p.m. This free, site-specific, and public performance will begin outside the Energy Institute’s Powerhouse Energy Campus and lead attendees in an outdoor, eco-sensual exploration of the river’s environment. Tour topics include Ecosex 101, environmental awareness, and 25 Ways to Make Love to the Earth—the foundation for the pair’s “ecosexual” movement, which inspires others to develop a more pleasurable and less destructive relationship with the Earth. The Ecosex Walking Tour is directed by Joy Brooke Fairfield and portable assisted-listening devices will be available.

“It’s an honor and a pleasure to be invited to explore the Poudre River with an eco sexy gaze, learn about its history, and envision its happy future,” says Sprinkle. “By the end of the tour, many folks might discover they are ecosexual, too,” Stephens adds.

Support for Reclamation: Recovering Our Relationship with Place and all related programming has been generously provided by the City of Fort Collins Fort Fund, the FUNd Endowment at CSU, and Colorado Creative Industries, as well as a grant from the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment, which works to enhance the cultural development and atmosphere for the arts at CSU.

GREGORY ALLICAR MUSEUM OF ART invites individuals to engage with art and each other to inspire fresh perspectives and wonder. The museum is a catalyst for visual literacy and critical thinking that instills a passion for learning. For updated museum information, go to artmuseum.colostate.edu.