Hello friends, Please Comment!
Many thanks to those of you who were able to attend the conversation on the arts, sustainability and equity that we held at the Sustainability Center on June 15th. The conversation was rich and wide-ranging. There were over twenty people there, and we all left wanting there to be a next step. So here we are, proposing how this energy might move forward.
Nick and InShik and Anne met last week and went over the notes from the conversation and pulled out several themes and possibilities that might be inspiring. There were two main ideas that seemed to be shared by everyone who attended the conversation. People felt that we should DO something more than just talk - that we should choose/create a project and make it happen. And people felt that whatever we do, it should be participatory, in the sense that the community will participate in the creating the art.
Have a look at the notes and our thinking and Reply-to-all with your thoughts, ideas, interests, and questions.
We will schedule follow up conversations with those of you who are interested in moving this forward, whether it is by actually starting a project, widening our circle, finding resources, or just brainstorming.
Also, please forward this to any artists or other community members you think might be interested, and ask them to be in touch with us so we can add them to the list.
Thank you for your interest, and we are really excited to see what will come of this!
Nick, InShik, and Anne
The Sustainability Center’s goals for this initiative are:
A broad group of people in Tompkins County will
recognize the intersection of sustainability, equity, and culture.
think more deeply about sustainability, equity, and culture, and take actions to raise awareness in the community, prevent more damage, and honor and sustain the natural world, including people.
Here are several possible ways to move forward; if any of us is interested in moving any of these forward we can set up a working group to get started in the planning.
Host a “variety show” on sustainability and equity themes; people would prepare short performances, audition, receive a stipend.
Create a day-long, public “make-it-and-take-it” event at the Sustainability Center on a sustainability theme.
Create a day-long, public make-it-and-donate-it” event at the Sustainability Center, creating something useful out of recycled fabric that can be donated to people who need it (such as baby caps for newborns, or reusable grocery bags).
A call for artists to create and plan a public, participatory event that can engage the public in art-making or performing – that could happen at the Ithaca Festival, or on Earth Day, or at one of the rural festivals.
Hold an open-mic night on any sustainability theme, or a poetry-slam focused on sustainability and equity.
Organize a “flash-mob” or “flash-song” to occur on the Commons.
Create and plan an arts project that school-based art or music teachers could implement.
Other ideas for events or projects that you have.
We also will need to do a little research about what grants are available for these kinds of community art projects.
And it would be good to have a list of any artists who are already doing this kind of work in the community (or in other communities, as a model for us).
Many thanks to those of you who were able to attend the conversation on the arts, sustainability and equity that we held at the Sustainability Center on June 15th. The conversation was rich and wide-ranging. There were over twenty people there, and we all left wanting there to be a next step. So here we are, proposing how this energy might move forward.
Nick and InShik and Anne met last week and went over the notes from the conversation and pulled out several themes and possibilities that might be inspiring. There were two main ideas that seemed to be shared by everyone who attended the conversation. People felt that we should DO something more than just talk - that we should choose/create a project and make it happen. And people felt that whatever we do, it should be participatory, in the sense that the community will participate in the creating the art.
Have a look at the notes and our thinking and Reply-to-all with your thoughts, ideas, interests, and questions.
We will schedule follow up conversations with those of you who are interested in moving this forward, whether it is by actually starting a project, widening our circle, finding resources, or just brainstorming.
Also, please forward this to any artists or other community members you think might be interested, and ask them to be in touch with us so we can add them to the list.
Thank you for your interest, and we are really excited to see what will come of this!
Nick, InShik, and Anne
The Sustainability Center’s goals for this initiative are:
A broad group of people in Tompkins County will
recognize the intersection of sustainability, equity, and culture.
think more deeply about sustainability, equity, and culture, and take actions to raise awareness in the community, prevent more damage, and honor and sustain the natural world, including people.
Here are several possible ways to move forward; if any of us is interested in moving any of these forward we can set up a working group to get started in the planning.
Host a “variety show” on sustainability and equity themes; people would prepare short performances, audition, receive a stipend.
Create a day-long, public “make-it-and-take-it” event at the Sustainability Center on a sustainability theme.
Create a day-long, public make-it-and-donate-it” event at the Sustainability Center, creating something useful out of recycled fabric that can be donated to people who need it (such as baby caps for newborns, or reusable grocery bags).
A call for artists to create and plan a public, participatory event that can engage the public in art-making or performing – that could happen at the Ithaca Festival, or on Earth Day, or at one of the rural festivals.
Hold an open-mic night on any sustainability theme, or a poetry-slam focused on sustainability and equity.
Organize a “flash-mob” or “flash-song” to occur on the Commons.
Create and plan an arts project that school-based art or music teachers could implement.
Other ideas for events or projects that you have.
We also will need to do a little research about what grants are available for these kinds of community art projects.
And it would be good to have a list of any artists who are already doing this kind of work in the community (or in other communities, as a model for us).