On January 24th the Sustainability in the Arts initiative officially kicked off - thank you to the engaged students and faculty who showed up!
We brainstormed different aspects of sustainability both in behind the scenes operations and in creative content, as well as some of the challenges that artists face when trying to make environmental art.
The group find that there were many opportunities to address sustainability behind the scenes, such as: mailing, energy use at venues, local food, waste, programs, parking/transportation, sustainability funds, lighting, compostable dishware, content selection, sustainable materials, recycled furnishings, props sharing, and education programs.
There were also many great ideas for creative content - hopefully you'll see more art relating to sustainability around campus in the future!
As we move forward, some of our goals are getting more people involved as well as reaching out to other colleges to see what's happening around sustainability in the arts elsewhere.
The key questions we'll be looking at in future meetings and activities include:
- How can the campus sustainability fund and other sustainability grants be made more visible to artists?
- What frameworks are most suited for presenting environmental art?
We're exciting to see where the Sustainability in the Arts initiative goes from here - email sustainability@uw.edu for more information if you'd like to get involved!