It started with a phone call. Mike Hannigan, the executive director for the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, had been kicking around an idea designed to benefit youth from the Ivywild neighborhood as part of his foundation's Strengthening Neighborhoods Initiative. He knew that FutureSelf, a local nonprofit that provides local under-served youth with free-of-charge art-based workshops would be a perfect participant. His idea to create a series of art and multimedia projects documenting Fountain Creek's value as a natural resource looked good to Catamount Institute as well.

FutureSelf's collaboration with Catamount Institute on the project became official last year and "Stream of Conscience: Inspiring the Art of Environmental Stewardship" was born. In 2007, Stream of Conscience (SOC) kicked off with a four-day "spring break" workshop where FutureSelf students met with Ute elders at the creek's source above Woodland Park, listened to Colorado Springs city storm water specialist Jeff Besse on the hazards of navigating the creek in its more urban setting, and saw for themselves the need for stewardship of this local natural resource.

Later in the summer, students gathered for an overnight workshop at Catamount Institute's Woodland Park campus, made environmental art (think Andy Goldsworthy and "Spiral Jetty") and documented the experience in photographs. FutureSelf executive director Wendy Mike said the Colorado Springs Arts, Business, Education Consortium (ABE) would present its "Best New Project" award for this first stage of SOC to FutureSelf program director Amber Cote at Wednesday's 29th annual ABE Luncheon honoring local arts and arts educators at the Antlers Hilton.

SOC is a three-year, three-phase project, with phase two on deck for this year. During the first week of August, between 10 and 12 FutureSelf kids will be paired with Environmental Studies students from Colorado College to create permanent pieces of art to be installed at Catamount Institute's Woodland Park facility.Mike said this process would prepare students for similar art pieces they will create at Shriver Pond while working with the Friends of Fountain Creek.

"The ultimate goal of Stream of Conscience is to use art made by youth to bring attention to the degradation of Fountain Creek," Mike said. "These first three years will result in a reproducible model groups in other communities can use to raise awareness."

All of the projects will result in a traveling exhibit of artwork and video documentary designed to galvanize environmental stewardship in the community, and to become a reproducible model for other communities to create positive environmental action.

To learn more about the Stream of Conscience program, view the five-minute video created by FutureSelf from the west-side online hubs. Look in the Featured Stories area at the top of each web page.