Rachel Hibbard

Going Going Gone

Is a collective work of art about Oregon’s biodiversity. Seventy artists finished 160 plaques, which were displayed along with 140 unfinished ones, to mark the extent of ecological disruption in the state.

Each plaque portrays a species of imperiled plant, color-coded to indicate the plant’s ecological status: black-and-white plaques represent extinct plants, red ones are endangered, and multicolored ones (as well as the gray-and-black ones, as yet unfinished) indicate threatened species.

The plaques were shown at three Portland venues, where a large and varied audience (estimated at 6,000 to 9,000) passed through. The installations elicited an immediate response of “That many!” (in amazement at the large number of threatened, endangered and extinct plants in Oregon) and inspired many conversations. 1994

Organizers:  Hugo Anaya  &  Rachel Hibbard

Local support for this project included:

Cascadia Forest Alliance, Portland Nursery & Mahaffey Fine Art