A new exhibit, Turning in Your Hand: The Blue Marble Project opens on Friday, September 12th with a reception from 5 to 8 pm at Waterfall Arts' Clifford Gallery. Susan Smith, an Intermedia MFA candidate at UMO, coordinated and curated the group show in collaboration with Waterfall Arts. She was inspired by the international Blue Marbles Project, created by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols. Through this simple, neuroscience-based initiative millions of people around the world have shared blue marbles in celebration of our beautiful planet

For the exhibit twenty collaborators were given the gift of a blue marble and asked to consider the pale blue dot we call home. Through their diverse responses the artists, writers and activists created a collective voice that speaks about our relationship to the earth and the myriad worlds we inhabit upon this fragile planet. Contributing artist are David Allen, Debbie Arnold, James Chute, Lauren Day, Barbara Denaro, Bethany Engstrom, Kathleen Florance, Lauren Gladstone, Sarah Hollows, Siglinde Langholz, Jessica LeClair, Rachael Nelson, Cara Oleksyk, Heather Perry, Amy Pierce, Robert Saunders, Owen Smith, Susan Smith, Deborah Wing-Sproul and Dudley Zopp.

Written statements will accompany each artist's work. Robert Saunders wrote that "This Blue Marble project is intended to highlight the daily aspects of one's life. For the past year I carried my Blue Marble with me everywhere I went as a way of making present my existence on this Larger Blue Marble, and by extension, getting you to think about your existence on this Large Blue Marble and the traces you make."

The Blue Marble Project will be on display through the 24th of October. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 to 5, by appointment and during Belfast's Final Friday Art Walk September 26th until 8pm. Waterfall Arts, now in its fifteenth year, provides arts education, gallery exhibitions, studio rentals and community events and is located at 256 High Street in Belfast. For more information on exhibitions, fall classes, studio rentals and events, visit www.waterfallarts.org.