Mel Chin describes the origins and motivations behind his nationwide art project Paydirt in a keynote address at the 2008 National Art Education Association Convention.

The high lead content in New Orleans’ soil—among the worst in the country—was exacerbated by the havoc wreaked by the 2005 hurricane. Discovering that “the disaster was in the soil before the disaster,” Chin felt compelled to do something. Speaking before a crowd of thousands of art educators from across the country, Chin recalls his disillusionment: “I remember standing in the ruins of the Ninth Ward and realizing as a creative individual that I felt hopeless and inadequate. And I was flooded by this terrible insecurity that being an artist was not enough to deal with the tragedy that was before me.” Thus Paydirt and its sister initiative, the “Fundred Dollar Bill Project” was born.