Look out, Christo

This is a picture (used with permission) of an abandoned gas station in Syracuse, New York, that's been entirely covered by panels of fabric that were sewn, knit, crocheted, painted, and otherwise decorated by people ranging from professional artists to grade school students.

I just caught wind of this project on a Yahoo group I subscribe to, and it blew me away. It's called the World Reclamation Art Project (W.R.A.P.), and it was started by an M.F.A. student at Syracuse University named Jennifer Brooke Marsh as an expression of concern about the world's oil dependency.

The result is quite amazing-looking, but the process is just about as astounding: She organized numerous workshops (you can see samples from them on the website) and got three-foot-square panels from schoolchildren and college students as well as hobbyists and artists -- many of them in Syracuse, and others from as far away as Argentina. Her focus on collecting work locally and using the project to bring environmental awareness and creative instruction to kids makes the piece a really moving and beautiful example of true public art.