The fine art of recycling: turning coal into art

I’m one of the millions of graduates of the “College of Arts and Sciences.” It always seemed to me to be an odd grab bag of vastly different disciplines. For instance: what’s the connection between my “drop needle” quiz about the “Romantic” symphonies and my “Survey of Genetics” final? Both classes came out of the same course catalogue. Maybe that Gregor Mendel and Ludwig van Beethoven were both Austrian? And while hardly the Bloods versus the Crips, students on the art side and those on the science side not only traveled in their own spheres, they were so very dismissive about the curriculum of “the other.” (Although we all donned our caps and gowns together and were united in disgust of the dorm food.) But this week’s TechKnow story about two Ohio University professors, one an artist and one a civil engineer are proof that the intersection between art and science is absolutely inclusive. 

Throughout time you’d be hard pressed to find an artist who doesn’t understand the fundamental elements of their medium – marble, wood, yarn or paint -- or a scientist who doesn’t appreciate the beauty of a math equation or a pattern of a data. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of that connection is Leonardo da Vinci. You know, that 15^th century guy who created a little something called the Mona Lisa AND everything from ball bearings to a diving suit that looks remarkably like what first sent man down to the depths. 

At Ohio University, in Athens that crossroads of art and science is a beautifully practical one that would make da Vinci proud. It’s an innovative problem-solving solution to a big water pollution problem. Recycling at its finest.

Independently, artist and art professor John Sabraw and civil engineering professor Guy Riefler were worried about the state of the local watersheds. That part of Ohio is dotted with abandoned coal mines, mines that were closed up before legislation made sealing them up the law. So for a generation or more, those mines have been collecting rainwater and leaching it back out into the local streams and rivers. That runoff contains iron ore and other heavy metals that have killed fish and fauna and turned the water orange. 

Where some saw pollution, Sabraw and Riefler saw opportunity. Riefler realized that that the iron had the properties that painters needed for pigment. And he set about extracting it from the water. But, he couldn’t seem to get the texture right and the color was off. He needed help. He needed an artist’s know-how. And there on the other side of campus, was John Sabraw who was also concerned with what they call acid mine drainage. Sabraw, like artists through the ages, mixes up his own paints from pigment. And he’s really good at it. 

As you’ll see from our story, working together Rielfer and Sabraw spent months tweaking and perfecting the process of making pigment from the tainted water. As a result, Sabraw has a stunning collection of paintings, where the medium is the message... gorgeous and vibrant landscapes, close ups of leaves, rivers and trees. He’s exhibiting them now in Chicago, so you can go see them for yourself. 

As we often do on TechKnow, our host, Phil Torres participated in the process… in his manly galoshes, Phil filled a bunch of 20 gallon containers with the brackish water, hauled ‘em out of the stream, mixed up a batch of pigment into paint and even got to make a few strokes on one of Sabraw’s pieces. At this writing it’s unclear if that will add to its value or detract from it. 

The ultimate goal is to stream line the collection and drying process and turn hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic coalmine drainage water into pigment to sell commercially. They say they’ve done the math and with the price of pigment, cleaning up the watersheds would break even. They’ve gotten state approval to ramp up. Now all they need is the money to do it.  Looks like it’s time for those arts and sciences guys to bring in those business and marketing majors.