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8/12/2021

Art Professor Holly Hanessian discusses her Hurricane Art Kit on Weather Channel

The onset of a massive hurricane can cause environmental damage, threats to sustainability and even psychological suffering.

A Florida State University Art Professor Holly Hanessian is tackling two of these detrimental effects in one project by producing a Hurricane Emergency Art Kit, which was recently unveiled at a public event at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts. The project has received support from both the FSU Office of Research and corporate partner Sawyer International.

Hanessian was recently interviewed live on the Weather Channel to talk about the project, explaining her first objective was to address water sustainability and disaster resiliency in underserved communities. The kit encourages the use of appropriate water filtration technology and seeks to decrease the reliance on single-use plastic water bottles.

“Right before Hurricane Michael, I was in Walmart’s camping section and found the Sawyer mini-filter,” Hanessian said. “I was amazed that the filter could clean 100,000 gallons of dirty water and wondered why they couldn’t be at the front of the store, where mounds of plastic bottles of water were piled? This thought ignited my passion for this project and for others to connect the idea of global warming and increased hurricanes to plastic water bottle-use.”

The Hurricane Emergency Art Kit is enclosed in a tin that floats and includes one Sawyer mini-water filtration system and a series of handmade porcelain objects designed for self-soothing.

Read more about the Hurricane Emergency Art Kit

Watch interview