Shartin earns river stewards award

Anastasia Dion Shartin of Hudson was one of three people receiving the Bob Burns Stewardship Award, presented at the St. Croix River Association annual dinner, May 11, at Camp St. Croix in Hudson.

This is the 12th year that this award has been presented to a group or individual who has demonstrated good stewardship of the natural resources of the St. Croix River and/or its tributaries. In addition to Shartin, awards were also given to Matt Berg and the City of River Falls.

Shartin has been the Visual Arts Director of The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, since 2000. Her passion for this region and her belief that art can be a catalyst for social change has led her to organize innumerable events, exhibitions, workshops, classes, and interdisciplinary partnership programs to engage people of all ages in conversations about relationships to the environment and to encourage action to improve its health.

Since 2006, Shartin has facilitated the sustainable living group known as What We Need is Here, and the Just Add Water art and science workshops for children have been offered as part of The Phipps Summer Art Camp, which Shartin coordinates.

In 2011, Shartin obtained grants for a collaboration of artists, scientists, and others for The Artful Rain Garden project with plans underway for extension of this pilot program as far out as 2014. The Bench Project is an ongoing community art project throughout the lower St. Croix Valley of western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota that engages local community groups in designing, locating, and creating benches.

The City of River Falls earned the award for leadership and dedication in protecting the Kinnickinnic River. Berg is a high school biology teacher from Grantsburg. He and his classes have done extensive work on identifying and relocating endangered mussel species.

The Bob Burns Stewardship Award was named for Bob Burns, a dedicated volunteer working to protect the St. Croix. Burns was an enthusiastic member, and past chair, of the St. Croix River Association; served on the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission for nine years; was instrumental in ensuring adequate federal funding for implementation of the first long-range management plan for the Lower St. Croix, and led the establishment of land use plans for subdivisions in the valley. He passed away in June of 1997.

Tags: lifestyle, arts, enviornment