The Notebaert Nature Museum is looking for artists to present, perform, or otherwise communicate something about lawns. "What does the lawn mean to you?" writes strategic projects manager Shane DuBow. "Tyranny of the suburbs? Nostalgic recollections of the lawn-mowing business you started in your youth? A metaphor for.... what? We're open to any and all of your inspirations and we've also included some ideas we're looking to assign." Read the whole request for proposals here or here (both PDF).

If you're too literal-minded or too lazy to make their October 31 deadline, you might still enjoy peeking in the new book Lawn People: How Grass, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We Are by former midwesterner Paul Robbins, now associate professor of geography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. I haven't seen the book, but Robbins's website (scroll down) mentions a counterintuitive finding:

"This research explores the social and economic motivation of lawn owners. Initial conclusions suggest that wealthy well educated people use chemicals most frequently and that people who claim concern for the environment are disproportionately likely to use chemical inputs."