Most of us know of Maya Lin for her work designing the Vietnam Veterans Monument. Today the California Academy of Science houses two of her permanent collections — and the only such place in the world to do so.   

A graduate of Yale,  the New York Times tells us that  “Ten years ago, Maya Lin wrote  that she was officially retiring from “the monument business. ”     But she has become an internationally acclaimed.  Maya Lin: Three Ways of Looking at the Earth is at Pace Wildenstein from September 10 through October 24, 2009.   This ABC News story follows.

ABC NEWS tells us: “Lin’s formative years were the 1960s, when she was influenced by the civil rights, women’s and environmental movements. She has addressed and incorporated these issues in her memorials, not only the Vietnam Veterans Memorial but her Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala., the Women’s Table at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and the ongoing Confluence Project, a multi-sited installation that has brought significant ecological restoration to six state and national parks along the Columbia River Basin.
“Her final public memorial focuses on extinct and vanishing species and is aptly titled What Is Missing?

” ‘It is a multi-sited artwork dedicated to bringing awareness to the current crisis surrounding biodiversity and habitat loss, ‘ ” said Lin.

It comprises a permanent sculptural installation, “The Listening Cone,” based at the California Academy of Sciences, a continually updated Web site, a book and a touring show called “The Dark Room” in which viewers can look at environmental video messages from floor projectors on portable glass screens.

“The Dark Room” can currently be seen in Manhattan at Salon 94, a private Upper East Side art gallery, which is also hosting Lin’s show “Recycled Landscapes.”   Environment Is Maya Lin’s Latest Muse

For more about her exhibit Maya Lin’s Environmental(ist) Art

Copyright 2009 Rita Watson