Artist Allison Newsome of Rhode Island is known for her creations of sustainable sculpture, including Three Sisters Rainkeep at Historic New England’s Casey Farm. Now she has created a new form of utility sculpture: the solar chimney.
If you’ve ever visited Casey Farm in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, maybe for a walk or educational activity, community-supported agriculture shares, or maybe its summer farmer’s market, you may have seen a strikingly modern feature of this 18th-century farm: a sustainable sculpture called Three Sisters Rainkeep.
This work by Rhode Island artist Allison Newsome, in collaboration with Wampanoag artist Deborah Spears Moorehead, was recently updated with a description translated into Narragansett and is one of a series that harvest rainwater. The sustainable sculpture’s purpose and functionality align nicely with one of Casey Farm’s climate action plan climate resilience goals to develop a stormwater management plan—a goal that overlaps with climate justice as well, as the effort will reduce the farm’s dependence on the public water supply.
Now Newsome has ventured into new sustainable sculpture territory: solar chimneys.
As Historic New England’s Ben Haavik presented in a November 22, 2024, webinar with GreenerU, “what’s old is new again”—and for solar chimneys, this is an apt description of a technology that has been around for centuries, according to The Guardian.
Simply put, solar chimneys are dark-painted shafts that use solar energy to improve ventilation in a building. The passive technology uses convection to move warm air out of a space (because heat rises) through a shaft on the south side of a building and draw cooler air into the space through vents at the ground level. Solar chimneys can also be used to heat buildings by turning off the ventilation outlet at the top and recirculating hot air that collects in the flue.
Newsome has brought an updated approach to solar chimneys through a sustainable sculpture lens. In 2024, she developed her latest innovation: SolarHearth.
According to Newsome’s website, “SolarHearth harnesses the sun’s energy using metal sculptural imagery that absorbs and transfers heat into a structure. Engineered for both performance and aesthetics, this utility sculpture provides an eco-friendly heating solution while serving as inspired public art.”
The first SolarHearth installation was at a residential building in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, designed by architect Joseph Cincotta of LineSync. SolarHearth’s heat transfer into this building was recorded at 173°F on January 3, 2025, when the outside temperature was just 18°F.
Newsome chooses materials carefully with a mind toward sustainability when developing sustainable sculpture. She uses materials that will withstand heat without outgassing, as well as considers materials’ reuse, recyclability, and biodegradability.
SolarHearth uses formaldehyde-free cork as an insulator. Cork, a sustainable, regenerative natural material coming from the bark of cork trees, is a natural carbon sink: for each kilogram of cork produced, trees can capture 73 kilograms of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, SolarHearth uses carbon-surface cork, which can be transformed into a carbon-rich material through various processes, primarily involving pyrolysis and activation. This process creates a carbon surface on the cork, resulting in activated carbon, a material with high surface area and porosity, making it ideal for surfaces coming into contact with heated air.
Aluminum, a highly recyclable material, is also used to create the shaft. To absorb maximum sunlight, this is covered in a black powder coating, which has no solvents and little to no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), making this process safe for both people and the atmosphere. Powder coatings are effective with a single coat, requiring less product overall and less energy for the application and curing process. Leftover powder coating and overspray can be reclaimed, recycled, and reused.
There are several examples of functional utility sculpture out there, representing a marriage between creativity and sustainability, such as:
Allison Newsome is an award-winning sculptor and sustainability innovator who collaborates with individuals and institutions to create site-specific artworks that address the global climate crisis. Her work promotes resilience, engages communities, and advances climate justice through utility sculptures that harvest rainwater and solar energy.
Newsome earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and serves as a consultant for RISD’s Terra Carta program. She was also an instructor with Harvard University’s Office for the Arts. Newsome has been recognized internationally for her contributions to sustainability and public art. Her public sculptures can be found at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo, the Venice ECC Architecture Biennale, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA, among others.
GreenerU delights in sustainable sculpture and is always on the lookout for creative solutions to mitigate climate change. Contact us if you have great ideas!