Yearly Archives: 2015

ARTCOP21 FESTIVAL FOR CLIMATE

With ArtCOP21 Festival on the Banks of the Seine in Paris, COAL offers citizen participation weekends in the great debate of COP21 through artists’ interventions on issues of climate.

Climate change is everyone’s business. In this year 2015, the Parisian atmosphere is particularly sensitive to this issue with the preparation for the COP21 to be held at Le Bourget from 30 November to 11 December.

Without citizen involvement, negotiations that will take place at the end of the year can not succeed. This is why the Festival for Climate, first highlight ofArtCOP21 , was born. Designed as an exchange device, it is animated by artists but told citizens to make Berges de Seine, track history and sustained communication in essence, a space for dialogue, advocacy and mobilization around climate.

At the time of the sharing economy and the reappropriation of public space, come and share the creative energies that exist today in ÃŽle-de-France around the COP21: leave a video message to COP21 negotiators through COPBox ; exchange on What remains with performance artist Thierry Boutonnier and HEROICA Pig Farm of Happiness; immerse yourself in the Amazon rainforest of Rodolphe Alexis and climate landscape Kisseleva ; ask the climate vocabulary with Nathalie Blanc and David Christoffel , co-build a work for the COP21 with Waste arts ; learn about the COP21 with the Parisian Agency for Climate and finally take position with #OccupyHope , monumental collective Ya + K and followed by a Line up with the inspired sound system mobile Never Chill Out Van Bellastock !

Go to the banks on 11 and 12 July from 11h to 22h
More information www.projetcoal.fr and www.artcop21.com

IN THE PROGRAM

COPBOX
Leave a video message to COP21 negotiators through COPBox
From 11 July to 27 August / Monday to Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 12H / 12H 21:30 Friday / Saturday from 10 am to 21:30 / Sunday 10 am to 7:30 p.m.

WHAT WE STILL
 Exchange on “What remains” with the performer and artist Thierry Boutonnier HEROICA pig 
July 11 and 12 from 11am to 17h

PARALLEL LINES
Immerse yourself in the sound shower “Parallel Lines” 
on July 11 from 10h to 22h / 12 July from 10h to 16h and 18h to 22h

BRIEFS CLIMATE
Experience the words climate with “climate Memory»
July 11 and 12 from 14h to 17h

WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN
Co-build works for the COP21 – Children Workshop
July 12 from 14h to 17h

CLIMATE IN GAMES
Ask about the COP21 with Parisian Climate Agency
July 11 and 12 from 14h to 17h

Art + COP21? 
July 11 from 17h to 18h30

INTERCONNECTED CLIMATE
July 12 from 16h to 18h

#OccupyHope
Take #OccupyHope position with the installation of the collective Ya + K. 
11 July from 14h to 17h

516 Arts – HABITAT: Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts

516 ARTS is organizing a collaborative season of public programming in the fall of 2015 that explores climate change through the arts to create a platform for education and dialogue. The public programs for HABITAT: Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts will include: a series of exhibitions at 516 ARTS; the popular Downtown Block Party; special events with guest speakers; film screenings; and youth programs.

Climate change is an urgent issue of both global and local concern. The Southwest can be considered one of the most “climate-challenged” regions of North America, with rising annual temperature averages, declining water supplies, and reduced agricultural yields. In New Mexico we’ve already seen destabilized and unpredictable weather patterns, water sources going dry, forests not recovering from fire, loss of urban trees, and crop failures. Public programs for HABITAT strive to raise awareness about these issues by taking an innovative approach to engaging with social and environmental change, and by bringing the community together to focus on sustainability.

DOWNTOWN BLOCK PARTY:
Interactive Art Projects, food, music and fun for the whole family!

516 ARTS presents its third Downtown Block Party on Saturday, September 12, 2015 on Central Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets Downtown, which expands the gallery programs into the street.  This year, the event is presented in partnership with the Downtown Albuquerque MainStreet Initiative in celebration of the Downtown Albuquerque Arts & Cultural District.  It highlights outdoor artworks and projects that address alternative energy, food issues, and land and water use in the future, all with a focus on positive solutions and dialogue.  For example, GhostFood by Miriam Simun, is a performance and interactive/participatory event that explores eating in a future of biodiversity loss brought on by climate change. The GhostFood mobile food trailer serves scent-food paintings that are consumed by the public using a wearable device that adapts human physiology to enable taste experiences of unavailable foods.  Little Sun Pop-Up Shop, by artist Olafur Eliasson (Berlin, Germany) and engineer Frederik Ottesen (Copenhagen, Denmark), showcases an attractive, high-quality solar-powered LED lamp they have developed, which serves as a social business focused on getting clean, reliable, affordable light to the 1.2 billion people worldwide without access to electricity.  For The Future of Energyby Andrea Polli and students, the public is invited to engage with local energy issues using an app to find and create potential, and to see what they are generating in real time through visualization tools.

EXHIBITIONS AT 516 ARTS:

Knew Normal and Off the ChartsAugust 29 – October 31, 2015

516 ARTS presents concurrent exhibitions focused on navigating changing environments.  Knew Normal,curated by Nancy Zastudil, features paintings, drawings and photography and small props that bear witness to the effects of climate change on our environments, bodies and psyches.  Artists include: Gala Bent, Nick Brown, Mel Chin, Adriane Colburn, Naomi Kizhner, Lee Lee, Wendy Mason, Nina Montenegro, Ryan Pierce, Dario Robleto, Miriam Simun and Cedra Wood.  Off the Charts,curated by Rhiannon Mercer and Claude Smith, explores the visual language that artists use to document, process, map and manipulate a better understanding of the ever-evolving world we inhabit.  Artists include: Sandow Birk & Elyse Pignolet, Anne Gilman, Jerry Gretzinger, Mary Iverson, Bethany Johnson, Jane Lackey, Mitchell Marti, Nathalie Miebach, James Sterling Pitt, Ross Racine, Matthew Rangell and Alexander Webb.

Scott Greene: Bewildernessand Beau Carey: RiseNovember 21, 2015 – January 9, 2016

516 ARTS spotlights two of Albuquerque’s most prolific painters with concurrent solo exhibitions exploring contemporary changes in the landscape from human activity while referencing the rich history of classical and 19th century American Landscape painting.  Scott Greene: Bewildernesssuggests a place existing beyond imagination, myth and reality where awe-inspiring pristine wilderness endures side by side with the idea of nature as something to be controlled and exploited.  Beau Carey: Risereferences navigational coastal profiling and compositional structures of the 19th century American landscape painters to examine how modern landscapes came to be spatially constructed.  Rooted in globalism and environmental dominance, these paintings look at how we will navigate and view a rapidly changing physical world.

GUEST SPEAKERS:

516 ARTS will present a series of speakers to address the issues around climate change from both the science and art perspectives.  Speakers include renowned artist Mel Chin, who is currently working on a project about developing a solar economy in the Western Sahara (September 10, 5>30pm, presented in partnership with UNM College of Fine Arts); and Ruben Arvizu who, together with Jean-Michel Cousteau, was named Ambassador of the Global Cities Covenant on Climate and serves as Director for Latin America with the Cousteau Society (November 12, 5:30pm, presented in partnership with the National Hispanic Cultural Center).

YOUTH OUTREACH PROGRAMS:

516 ARTS is offering STEM+Arts workshops with artists Abbey Hepner and Rubén Olguin at local schools in partnership with the National Hispanic Cultural Center, STEMarts Lab and The Paseo.  We will also host student groups at 516 ARTS for exhibition tours, discussions and hands-on activities throughout the fall.

High Res Balog MM7792 090628 0391 copy

PROGRAM PARTNERS INCLUDE:

516 ARTS
ABQ UNM CityLab
Albuquerque Public Schools
AmeriCorps VISTA
Central Features
CyQloVíA
Civic Plaza Presents
Downtown Albuquerque MainStreet Initiative
Downtown Grower’s Market
Explora
National Hispanic Cultural Center
The Paseo
STEMArts Lab
University of New Mexico:
Art & Ecology
Center for Advanced Research Computing
College of Fine Arts
Creative Writing Program
Landscape Architecture

SPONSORS INCLUDE:

The Albuquerque Journal
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
Bernalillo County Community Events
Conservation Voters New Mexico/Juntos
Levitated Toy Factory
Mid-Region Council of Governments
Positive Energy Solar
Union of Concerned Scientists
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
School of Engineering
Office of Research/Provost

FUNDERS INCLUDE:

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Bernalillo County Community Events
The City of Albuquerque:
Mayor Richard R. Berry, City Council
& Urban Enhancement Trust Fun
The FUNd of ABQ Community Foundation
McCune Charitable Foundation
New Mexico Arts, a division of the Office of
Cultural Affairs, with the National Endowment for the Arts

Click to download the current PREVIEW PRESS RELEASE (pdf)
Check back for more information

Image: EVII from Jerry’s Map by Jerry Gretzinger, Still from Chasing Ice by James Balog

OPEN CAAL: 2015 INTERNATIONAL ARTIST WORKSHOP IN GHANA

What would happen if you bring together artists from different cultures to interact and create works through use of materials from the environment?” Why not join us and find out?

DATE: September 9 – 30, 2015
VENUE: Abetenim Arts Village near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Nka Foundation invites arts practitioners from around the world for the 2015 International Artist Workshop at Abetenim Arts Village in Ghana. Practitioners in the visual arts, building arts, literary arts, performing arts, design and film/new media are all welcome to participate. We will immerse ourselves in the local environment and create site-specific works through use of earth and other materials from the environment. Our rural arts village provides the participant with time and space away from the everyday stresses of city/studio life to focus and investigate own practice, creating the possibility for discovery, collaboration and growth. The arts village has an openair theatre, workspaces and guest houses for your accommodation. Most evenings will be used for reviewing workshop progress along with artist lectures, impromptu performances and presentations by workshop participants. By alternating work and dialogues, we anticipate cross fertilization of ideas. Join us!

COST: Food and accommodation 120€/week (flight costs are not included).
CONTACT: www.nkafoundation.org / info@nkafoundation.org for application form. Proposals will be reviewed until spots are filled

More on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/823496571053336/

 

Julie’s Bicycle Now Recruiting: Programme Coordinator

From Julie’s Bicycle:

This is an exciting time for Julie’s Bicycle, as we embark on an ambitious nation-wide programme to raise the profile and impact of cultural leadership on climate change and environmental issues over the next few years. We are looking for an exceptional person with ambition, love of the arts and culture, creative flair and commitment to environmental sustainability to join a thriving team at the heart of the cultural response to environmental sustainability.

The Programme Coordinator will be an important member of the Arts Team, focused on delivery. The role will be involved with coordinating our annual programme of events and workshops, developing resources for the Julie’s Bicycle website, writing case studies and website content, and supporting the delivery of consultancy projects designed to increase engagement in environmental best practice across the music, festivals, theatre, dance, visual arts, museums, literature, and other creative and cultural communities.

Download the full job description here or by clicking the link below.

Terms and conditions

Contract: Full time, fixed term until September 2016
Salary: £24,000 (pro rata) depending on experience
Location: London

Applications

Send a CV and cover letter to sophie@juliesbicycle.com by 9am, Monday 10th August 2015. Please direct any enquiries to Sophie at the email above or 020 8746 0400.

Interviews will take place the week commencing 17th August 2015.

Julie’s Bicycle is committed to being an Equal Opportunities Employer.

Exciting volunteer opportunity at Edinburgh MELA

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Are you interested in the green side of festivals? Want to see world-class music and dance whilst making a difference? Then this opportunity is for you!

The Edinburgh MELA (Sat 29th & Sun 30th August 2015) – Scotland’s biggest and best festival of world music and dance – is actively seeking volunteers for their Green Team. Your role will be helping with the recycling at the MELA by encouraging festival-goers to recycle properly and by being on hand to answer any eco-questions that they might have.

As a volunteer you will receive:

  • A full day of volunteer training
  • A hot and tasty meal per shift (plus refreshments from the hospitality area)
  • Free tickets for the entire festival
  • A limited edition MELA t-shirt
  • A reference (upon request) once you’ve successfully completed your volunteer post.

Applications are now open so be sure to get yours in!

Click here for more information on how to apply.

Deadline for applications: Early August 2015

The post Exciting volunteer opportunity at Edinburgh MELA appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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Save the Date! CLIMAT CHANGE THEATRE ACTION

109e9fe8-70ac-4d2f-9d93-abb1a25ce89dUpdates from Chantal Bilodeau 

I am thrilled to announce that NoPassport, The Arctic Cycle and Theatre Without Borders are organizing a CLIMATE CHANGE THEATRE ACTION – a series of worldwide readings and performances intended to bring awareness to, and discussion around, climate change in November 2015.

This action is in support of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris (COP21) taking place November 30-December 11, 2015. This momentous international event, combined with the U.S. assuming the chair of the Arctic Council in April 2015, means that climate change will be an important conversation in the months to come.

A collection of 1-5 minute plays by dramatists, poets and storytellers, curated by Caridad Svich, Elaine Avila and myself, will be available to collaborators worldwide during the month of November 2015. These events are open to the design of our collaborators, and can be held in any venue of their choosing, from a large theatre to outdoors, online to a living room.

The goal of this action is to engage as many people as possible in keeping the conversation alive.

The New York City event will be held on November 2, 2015 from 6:30-8:00 PM at the Nuyorican Poets Café. Other venues TBA.

For an example of another International Theatre Action like this one, please click here.

Foundry Dialogues 2015: This Changes Everything

Recently, I had the honor of participating in the Foundry Theatre’s annual Dialogues. Inspired by Naomi Klein’s international bestseller This Changes Everything, this year’s Foundry Dialogues featured an international group of celebrated thinkers, activists, journalists, policymakers and artists who are exploring radical new ways to make our world last longer.

The Dialogues were divided in four parts. For Part 4, titled Restoring Our Planet, I took the stage with Pablo Soron Romero, Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Bolivia, and Michael Leon Guerrero, Coordinator of the national Grassroots Global Justice Alliance. Playwright Lisa D’Amour moderated.

Didn’t know about it or couldn’t attend? Don’t worry. The conversation has been archived on the Foundry Theatre’s website so you can watch it at your convenience. And while you’re there, make sure to take a look at Parts 1, 2, and 3. They all featured wonderful and inspiring speakers.

Coming Up

More exciting events coming up in the fall:

  • September 21: In solidarity with Climate Week NYC, The Arctic Cycle is joining forces with NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, PositiveFeedback, and Theatre Without Borders to present an evening of Theatre and Climate Change. More details soon.
  • September 21-26: Stay tuned for a second installment of the HowlRound blog series Theatre in the Age of Climate Change.
  • October: Sila, published by Talonbooks, is released! More information soon about a book launch event in New York City.
  • February 2016: Forward will be produced by Kansas State University.

ONCA awarded £75,000 to develop participatory arts programme « a-n The Artists Information Company

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

Thanks to Anne Douglas for alerting us to this exciting development in Brighton. It’s great to see ACE commiting support to an ambitious arts & ecology programme.

Following receipt of a £75,000 award from Arts Council England, Brighton’s ONCA Centre for Arts and Ecology will be launching eleven new projects over the next two years that explore how society and culture can respond to environmental change. read on here… https://www.a-n.co.uk/news/onca-awarded-75000-from-arts-council-england 

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.

It has been established by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.

Go to EcoArtScotland

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COAL PRICE 2015 – ANNOUNCEMENT OF NOMINEES

COAL is pleased to announce the nominees for the ten artists COAL Art & Environment Prize in 2015 on the climate and the six artists nominated for the special price COAL Oceans in partnership with Tara expedition. The 2015 edition of COAL price marks a key step ArtCOP21, the cultural agenda of COP21 worn by COAL and Cape Farewell. Winners will be selected by a prestigious jury on September 17 next to the Museum of Hunting and Nature.

For its sixth edition, the international call for projects of Price COAL calling artists to inspire the negotiations of the COP21 brought together 389 artists from 51 countries folders. This success reflects the commitment of artists to the environment and the recognition of COAL price on the international stage.

TEN AWARD NOMINEES COAL ART AND ENVIRONMENT 2015

Alex Hartley (England, born in 1963), NowhereCollective Disaster (Belgium), Temple of Holy Shit

FICTILIS (Timothy Furstnau and Andrea Steves – USA), True Cost Market

Julie Navarro (France, born in 1972), Sundew

Livin Studio (Katharina Unger and Julia Kaisinger) – Austria, Fungi Mutarium

Mare Liberum (USA), Mergitur sed Regurgitat

MELD (USA – Australia-Greece), Climate Change Hip-Hop OperaMonte Laster (USA-France, born in 1959), CO-OPStefane Perraud and Aram Kebabdjian (France, born in 1975 and 1978), Black SunYesenia Thibault-Picazo (France, born in 1987), Craft in the Anthropocene

PRESENTATION OF PROJECTS TEN NOMINEES

Global warming is everyone’s business. The limit to 2 ° C through a binding agreement uniting nations met at the 21th UN Climate Conference to be held in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015, it is the hope of containing rising Water, food insecurity, extinction of species, ocean acidification or the disappearance of systems’ unique and threatened “like coral reefs. Without the involvement of all the negotiations that will take place at the end of the year can not succeed. The artists nominated for the Prize in 2015 COAL imagined collective projects, citizens, local and global scales, solutions developers, stories, warnings and models involved in awareness and action.Three groups of artists strive to change our daily individual impact on climate change by reversing the laws of consumption and living. Livin Studio, Austrian artist duo Katharina Unger and Julia Kasinger, develops a prototype Fungi Mutarium mycelium culture capable of degrading persistent toxic waste by transforming them into edible biomass. FICTILIS, consisting of Timothy and Andrea Furstnau Steves offers meanwhile, with participative installation True Cost Market, a grocery store where every product is sold its real price, once built the cost of its environmental and social externalities. The circle is complete, with the Temple of Holy Shit, the Collective Disaster dedicated to recycling of human bodily waste. A transdisciplinary and collaborative project that reminds us with humor that we are all producers of fertile ground, a real alternative to agricultural chemical inputs.

The energy, scientific speculation and the time scales are the main concepts of human impact on the climate that fuel the imagination of artists. Julie Navarro initiates us with Sundew, an aesthetic journey on human relationships and landscapes, along the Limousin bogs. These geological formations act as true “sink” of carbon and contribute to natural climate regulation. The artist and the writer Stefane Perraud Aram Kebabdjian lead us in turn in a futuristic fiction where the first prototype of a photovoltaic ice pump designed to contain global warming would have been born. The Black Sun appears as a monument to the ambivalent scientific utopia and uncertainty of our energy transfers. The Anglo-French artist Yesenia Thibault-Picazo, also explores the possible fictions of a future with geology of Craft in the Anthropocene, a draft design on speculative soils and anthropic resources of tomorrow.

Our destructive behavior requires a new ethical and political utopia quest based on the common theory, sharing of resources and wealth, collaboration and citizen start. English, Alex Hartley approached by imagining a utopian space, without borders and without jurisdiction, dedicated to free thought. Nowhere is an island, not a place, consisting of all the commons that exist today outside laws and regulations of the 196 nations of the world. The extraterritoriality seems the only possibility to think a united humanity and peace. From global to ultralocal, there is a step that crosses Monte Laster with CO-OP, an aesthetic and democratic project, which asks how art can be a vehicle for action and reflection on living together throughout the territory of the Seine-Saint-Denis. Artists also intend to raise awareness and put pressure on the negotiators. Mergitur sed Regurgitat the New York collective Mare Liberum, combines poetry and creative activism. Echoing the motto of the city of Paris “Fluctuat Nec Mergitur” (It is tossed by the waves but does not sink), they will sail during the COP21 on Archipelagist, a paper boat that has the ability to flow and to resurface. Powerful metaphor of climate change and our power to act …The registered art historical revolutions in our collective imagination. Because we all hope that COP21 will make history, MELD, which brings nearly fifteen artists, created the Climate Change Hip-Hop Opera a total art project to permanently include the struggle against climate change cultural and aesthetic history.

The winner of the Prix Art et COAL Environment 2015 will benefit from a grant of 5,000 euros and a residence in the area of Belval (Ardennes), owned by François Sommer Foundation .

SIX COAL SPECIAL PRIZE NOMINEES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TARA OCEANS EXPEDITION
Hortense Le Calvez and Goussin Mathieu
(France, born in 1988 and born in 1985), 2.0 Corals
Nicolas Floc’h (France, born in 1970), productive StructuresJérémy Gobé (France, born in 1986), MOSE / LatistellataElsa Guillaume (France, born in 1989), coral CosmographieHenrik HÃ¥kansson (Sweden, born in 1968), The Coral SeaMrugen Rathod (India, born in 1982), Untitled

The winner of the special prize Oceans leave for a month in residence on Tara as part of the mission of Tara on the coral – ” coral reefs facing global change on the planet “- to be held in the Pacific Ocean 2016 2018.

THE JURY

Claude Anthenaise, chief curator of the Museum of Hunting and Nature

Agnès b., stylist

Elodie Cazes, coordinator of the art collection agnès b.Philippe Cury, oceanographer

Anne Ged, director of the Paris Climate Agency

Emma Lavigne, director of the Centre Pompidou MetzPRIZE CEREMONY 2015 COAL MUSEUM OF HUNTING AND NATUREThe ceremony will take place in 2015 COAL Price 17 September 2015 at the Museum of Hunting and Nature, which runs until 26 September installing a meteorological history, food and revolution of the artist Asa Sonjasdotter, COAL Award winner in 2014.

MORE INFORMATIONS
PROJETCOAL.FR / ARTCOP21.COM

Image Credit: © Julie Navarro, Sundew, peats, 2015 Gifts of rain

 

As Scene on TV: ECO-SET Consulting

This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

As Scene on TV

Materials from commercials find a repurpose in life with the help of EcoSet.

By Stan Friedman

In 2010, Kristina Wong was putting together her one-woman show, Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, an exploration of the high rate of depression among Asian American women. Knitting was a central metaphor in the show, a visual representation of unraveling. At the same time, Target, the department store mega-giant, had just finished production of a TV commercial that had been filmed in a colorful field of huge yarn balls.  How those yarn balls bounced from a 30-second spot to the set of Ms. Wong’s touring stage production is a tale that would not have been possible without the work of a company called EcoSet.

Based in Los Angeles with a fulltime staff of five, and boasting a large roster of freelance crew members in both L.A. and New York, EcoSet works to instill environmental responsibility before, during and after commercial shoots. Since their beginnings in 2008, their zero-waste initiatives have included redistributing more than 220 tons of material to theater companies, film students, artists and nonprofits at no cost to the recipients. In California there were clothes hangers for the costume department at the Burbank Community Theater, sheets and plates for the Good Shepherd Center for homeless women and children, as well as crates of apples to feed the reptiles at Star Eco Station, an environmental science center in Culver City. New York organizations that have benefited include Covenant House, Materials for the Arts and the Bowery Mission.

 

In addition to Target, who has now partnered with EcoSet in over 170 shoots, other heavy hitters who have utilized EcoSet’s eco-consultancy and waste management services include Honda, Campbell’s Soup, Subaru, Old Navy, Samsung and Microsoft. When materials are not suitable for redistribution, they are recycled with the help of localized haulers and recyclers – over 170 tons worth to date. Leftover food from catering is donated or composted. Water refilling stations and stainless-steel water bottles for crew workers eliminate the need for plastics (Subaru estimates that, over the course of 7 shoots, they avoided the purchase of 6,000 plastic bottles.), and they have led the charge for the use of solar hybrid trailers in place of those that use standard fuel burning generators.

The clearing house for much of EcoSet’s West Coast distribution is a large warehouse located a few blocks from Forest Lawn Cemetery. They call it the Materials Oasis. As exhibited in their Facebook photo gallery, the space is brimming with donated walls, doors, tires, paint, giant crayons, Christmas decorations and artificial plants.

As the Oasis photos show, EcoSet definitely has many a wall unit and wooden doorframe, but it should also be noted that they clearly have no glass ceiling. The company was founded in Minnesota by Shannon Bart, who shortly thereafter moved on to become the Sustainable Production Manager at NBCUniversal. Since 2012, Kris Barberg has been the firm’s Executive Director. Kris began her career as a videographer and editor, then became a freelancer for ten years in commercials and features on the West Coast. Amy Hammes is Kris’ Business and Community Engagement Director and self-proclaimed “Waste Warrior.” And Jamie Bullock, their former production supervisor in LA, came to New York in December and now oversees all East Coast projects.

Today, these leaders and their volunteers know that their work is cut out for them. According to the industry publication SHOOT, more than 8 million pounds of waste are discarded annually from commercial productions in Los Angeles alone, with a typical shoot generating 500 – 1,000 pounds of waste per day. And looking beyond the ad world, the Producers Guild of America has reported that a single motion picture can generate 275 tons of set debris and 70 tons of food waste.

Interested in joining the EcoSet cause? L.A. based folks with film production experience are invited to volunteer here. Have materials to donate? You can become a donation partner by signing up here. EcoSet also has a free email alert system that lets participants know about upcoming available items. To request to be added to the list, email cal@ecosetconsulting.com with the subject line: Sign me up for EcoSet’s Free Alerts.

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The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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Going Green: Good for Screen

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

This June Creative Carbon Scotland hosted the event ‘Going Green: Good for the Screen’ at the Edinburgh International Film Festival to tackle such questions. Ben Twist, director of CCS, along with guest-speakers Aaron Matthews, Industry Sustainability Manager at BAFTA, and Mairi Claire Bowser, from ethical set-management company Drèsd, discussed the environmental challenges facing the industries and the tools and resources that are being developed or which need to be developed for these to be overcome.

Environmental challenges facing the film industry include:

  • How to transport all necessary people and equipment to and from location
  • How to power film sets, including equipment, catering facilities, and caravans
  • What to do with sets and props after production.

With limited budgets (especially in television), speed is of the essence and cost and convenience are the name of the game. Transport is done as easily as possible, regardless of emissions; sets and props are often discarded into landfill (as storing costs are so high); power is provided by fossil-fuel generators. Environmental concerns get left by the wayside.

Fortunately, this is starting to change. Aaron Matthews has been working on the development and uptake of Albert, a free carbon-calculating tool tailored to film and screen productions. Used at the pre-production stage, it takes only 20 minutes to complete and clearly identifies major sources of emissions, and hence key areas for carbon reduction.

The four major UK production companies (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky) were involved in its development, which required a level of openness and data-sharing not usually seen between rival organisations: a refreshing example of the common good being placed above personal interest. They’re also ensuring its uptake: the use of Albert is now a compulsory stage in pre-production at Sky, and will soon be at the BBC also. This will hopefully achieve the aim of normalising sustainability concerns and integrating them into standard practice.

Whilst the knowledge provided by Albert is necessary for effective action to be taken, it is not sufficient. It’s important that productions are supported and facilitated in greening their activities. To this end, Mairi Claire Bowser argued for the creation of a central sustainability hub in Scotland. This would be THE go-to place for questions regarding material resource reuse, energy and carbon management, water stewardship, etc.

It could also provide training to bring productions up to speed on sustainability issues, as well as facilities such as low-energy set and prop storage, and the centre for creative re-purposing and innovative recycling. This will save lots of material from landfill, whilst also preventing further resource exploitation when the sets and props have to be remade. Such a base would have social and economic benefits too as smaller productions, such as student and indie films, could benefit from the greater resources available to larger productions. The wealth could be shared.

Collaboration and communication are key if a central sustainability hub is to be created, and at the moment it is very much at the ideas stage. However, as we have seen with Albert, such collaboration is possible provided there are enough people with the will to make a difference. And such people are certainly around, as positive changes are beginning to be seen across the industry. A few example include:

  • BAFTA is switching to 100% renewable energy
  • Shepperton Studios are trialling set-repurposing
  • Ealing Studios are installing plumbed water to sets, allowing water bottles to be easily refilled.

The film and screen industries have a long way to go, but tools such as Albert and a Central Sustainability Hub have the potential to make a big difference. As do members of the audience, which included filmmakers, students, and members of Screen Academy Scotland and Creative Scotland who we hope found the talk enlightening and thought-provoking.

For more information about resource to improve sustainability in the film and television industries please click here.

To find our more about green festival initiatives follow our summer #GreenFests blog!

Image: Vancouver Film School, Creative Commons License

The post Going Green: Good for Screen appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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