For years, the Avalon Foundation, through its famed Plein Air festival, has partnered with the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy to build a body of artwork rooted in the landscapes of the Shore — and with a bigger goal in mind. Avalon’s C.O.O. Jessica Ballis said they hoped the work could serve as a higher-level advocacy tool in Annapolis. What they learned is that policy change takes process, persistence, and the right messenger.
That’s where ESLC’s Carol Bean stepped in, organizing an exhibit in the Senate building to support continued funding for Maryland’s Program Open Space. Instead of relying only on fact sheets and data, the team brought paintings — and even postcards of the art — directly to lawmakers. The exhibit’s location, just outside the committee room that hears environmental legislation, helped spark conversations.
It seems to be working. In our Spy interview with Carol and Jess, Bean said the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Art opened doors. Legislators shared stories about parks and landscapes in their own districts. The work made conservation feel personal.
In our chat, Ballis emphasized that Avalon is nonpartisan and not a lobbying group. But preserving open space is essential to events like Plein Air Easton and to the Shore’s broader economy. Conservation, they noted, supports tourism, culture, and jobs.
This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, please go here. For the Avalon’s Plein Air Easton program, please go here.
The post The Avalon and ESLC Take Their Art to Annapolis: Chat with Carol Bean and Jessica Ballis appeared first on Talbot Spy.
One Response
They’re hanging paintings outside rooms where environmental laws are debated. So show the full picture. Not just marshes and sailboats. Show the families priced out of housing. Show the workers commuting from far away because buildable land keeps shrinking. Show the food pantry lines. Show the isolated senior citizens without adequate services. Open space is not neutral when the cost of living keeps rising and opportunity keeps narrowing.
Conservation is constantly marketed as an economic engine. For who? Property
values rise for elites. Ownership consolidates. Barriers get larger. Public dollars permanently restrict land while no equivalent space is opened for housing, jobs, or small-business. That produces exclusion. Broad prosperity should be visible in wages and attainable housing, not just asset appreciation.
Avalon and ESLC are meeting with legislators while environmental bills are
under debate. That is policy advocacy. The public deserves clarity about how much time and funding go toward legislative engagement and what positions are being advanced. Land policy determines access to housing and opportunity. Much more transparency is necessary.