Summary

On November 10, 2008, California Lawyers for the Arts brought together 70 environmental, philanthropic, and public sector representatives, as well as artists and non-profit arts professionals, for an innovative dialogue on arts and environmental issues. Aligning arts and environmental interests, our goal was to find ways to build a platform for a larger role for the arts in raising public awareness of the pressing environmental concerns that threaten our global well being.

In the required reading for the day, The Bridge at the Edge of the World, James Gustave Speth, Dean of the School of Environmental and Forestry Studies at Yale University, argues convincingly that:  “We can reclaim nature and restore ourselves. There is a bridge at the edge of the world. But for many challenges, like the threat of climate change, there is not much time.”

The urgency of the current situation calls on all of us to pause our daily routines and examine the ways in which we can make a difference by putting our diverse talents to the task of changing the trajectory of climate change. The day’s presentations and discussions demonstrated that artists are prepared to contribute to making this change; that many are already doing groundbreaking work, and that this potential has barely been revealed to policymakers in government and philanthropy.

As artists and advocates for the arts, we know that the arts provide opportunities to confront our deepest fears, to spark dialogues, to raise consciousness and to stimulate calls to action.  Starting the day with California Poet Laureate Al Young’s moving poetic treatment, “The world beyond washed flesh is you,” we were challenged to look beyond the narrow boundaries of self-interest and see how our gifts for expression, collaboration and even outrage could be put to the greater common cause of healing our planet and restoring balance to ourselves in nature.

Thus, the goal of the Arts and Environmental Initiative is to enhance the essential cultural link—often overlooked–in building public awareness of critical environmental concerns and stimulating the public—and the arts community–to seek opportunities to correct and change harmful behaviors.

Sam Bower, Executive Director of GreenMuseum.Org framed the opening panel, “Creative Responses,” with slides of groundbreaking environmental artists, such as Helen and Newton Harrison, and Betsy Damon, who have often been more generously supported internationally than in this country. Presentations by James Kass and Pamela Michael, the directors of Youth Speaks and River of Words respectively, demonstrated the power of environmental concerns in poetry and visual art created by young people. Katri Foster, Youth Speaks Program Associate, performed a poem describing the environmentally caused asthma and cancer plaguing her minority community. Ken Ikeda, director of Bay Area Video Coalition, described new environmental/media projects.  During a working lunch, California State Senator Mark Leno was introduced by California Arts Council Director Muriel Johnson, and reviewed his efforts to increase arts funding.

The second panel provided information about “The Built Environment: Architecture, Art and Green Design and LEED Building Standards.”  Margie O’Driscoll, Executive Director of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, explained the importance of architecture in a dialogue about climate change, noting that a large percentage of carbon dioxide emissions emanate from  buildings.  Seattle artist Buster Simpson described the challenges of working in the public sphere, while emphasizing the need to bring artists into the first stages of architectural and landscape projects, to collaborate with other professionals, rather than at the end.  Dan Geiger, Executive Director of the U.S. Green Building Council, develops and administers LEED standards for buildings, while Aaron Pope, representing the San Francisco Academy of Sciences, demonstrated how the LEED standards were met at the Academy’s new building.  Wade Crowfoot, the director of Environmental Initiatives for the Mayor of San Francisco, described the City’s ambitious efforts to become the most green city in America.

A final panel on Resources for Arts/Environmental Projects was facilitated by Bruce Davis, Executive Director of Arts Council Silicon Valley.  As Manager of Grants for the San Francisco Department of the Environment, Shawn Rosenmoss discussed strategies to collaborate with other city agencies to try to meet the City’s goals for recycling and other environmental initiatives.  Felicia Filer described the challenges of administering the public art program for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.  Al Goncalves, the Managing Director of Fort Mason Center, announced that the Center would present an Arts and Environmental Festival during the summer of 2009, as a result of the staff’s collaboration in planning this Dialogue.

The meeting concluded after small groups strategized how the arts community could contribute ideas for productive and lasting change. Table topics included: Brainstorming the Fort Mason Festival; Collaborating with State Agencies such as the CAC, PUC, and the State Coastal Commission; Public Art and Local Arts Agencies; Youth and Arts Education projects; and the Post-Carbon Society.  An open table decided to name its topic: “How to Seed Creativity.”  C.L.A. was urged to provide information to arts members, create a common base of knowledge from an environmental perspective, and seeks ways to integrate the arts with environmental interests.

The dialogue made clear that there is much work to do in this intersection, and demonstrated the enthusiastic interest of the arts community in contributing its diverse voices to the wider dialogue, and to committing to a long-term search for solutions informed by the abundant connections between ecology and the arts.