A public photo exhibition, showcasing images of wildlife and scenery on the National Cycle Network has gone on show in Edinburgh.
The Go Wild exhibition, showcasing stunning images of wildlife and scenery on the National Cycle Network in Scotland, has gone on show along the Union Canal in Edinburgh.
The free exhibition, which showcases submissions from photographers of all abilities as part of Sustrans Scotland’s Go Wild photography competition, will be displayed at Lochrin Basin until 30th August.
Greener Greenways
Go Wild is part of Sustrans Scotland’s Greener Greenways project, which is part-funded by Scottish Natural Heritage, and aims to improve and enhance biodiversity on traffic-free sections of the Network that are home to a variety of animals and plant species.
The shortlisted photos range from a playful stoat to scenic shots highlighting breath-taking views along National Cycle Network routes in Scotland.
Sustrans Scotland Volunteers Coordinator, Laura White said: “We hope these photos will inspire and encourage more people to explore their local area by foot or bike, and enjoy the fantastic scenery and wildlife the National Cycle Network has to offer.â€
“The National Cycle Network plays a vital role in supporting and promoting a wide variety of wildlife in Scotland and is a fantastic place for people to experience some of the rich biodiversity that Scotland has to offer.â€
See the exhibition
You can visit the exhibition at Lochrin Basin, EH3 9QD, along the Union Canal in Edinburgh during the month of August. Visit www.sustrans.org.uk/scotphotocomp18 for more information.
There are approximately 2,371 miles (3,815 km) of National Cycle Network routes in Scotland, including 644 miles of traffic-free routes which use a mix of railway path, canal towpath, forest road, shared-use path, segregated cycle lanes and re-determined rural footways. It plays a vital role in helping people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more every day journeys and can act as a green corridor for wildlife.
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.
“And if you are here,
And you are one of the Seven who run this world
You are not alone
I have come to bare my heart before you.
I have come to greet you.”
—Bare Spaces by Angella J. Emurwon
This was the opening of our 2017 Climate Change Theatre Action production, The Spaces Between Us, which I produced as part of the 2017-18 Brandeis University Department of Theater Arts Season. The cast took the stage one at a time to greet the audience.
But as part of the same project in 2015, this was how we started our production:
… I know. I mean, I get it, I do… it’s hot. It’s, like, seriously hot out today and the first thing I hear… not five minutes outside my building… “it’s global warming.†(makes a face) I mean, come on… please. It’s summer! It’s always hot in the summer! How you gonna blame that on anything but it’s the summertime and it’s hot in summer.
A wonderful monologue by Neil Labute, An Average Guy Thinking Thoughts About Climate Change pits a climate change denier against reality. He rants, he calls us stupid, gullible and whiny. And his only real concern seems to be getting his Chipotle.
We didn’t let him conclude his hysterics. Not yet. We cut him off, mid-rant, and ushered in other plays to shout facts and fear at our audience: The last polar bear alone on an ice floe; parents wrangling over whether or not they should kill their own children rather than let them encounter the end of the world. We clamored louder than Labute’s Man could. And then we allowed him to come back on stage.
The guy looks up at the sun overhead. Squints. Looks back at us. Shakes his head.
I mean, come on! (beat)Global warming? (beat) Whatever…
He opens his bottle of water and finishes it. Crushes the plastic and tosses it to the ground. He wanders off. The stage gets brighter and brighter and brighter…
The end. Don’t be that guy. That was our mandate. We were frustrated. We were angry. We needed the audience to be our hope, and we would overwhelm them with unvarnished truth and terrifying circumstances until they took up arms and gave us the hope we needed.
So how did we go from this to “baring our hearts,†a much more hospitable opening?
I remember one tenet from my undergrad Introduction to Sociology class (sorry Professor ????): “The miserable don’t rebel.†The masses don’t revolt when conditions stay the same. They don’t riot when conditions get worse either. They revolt when an indication of light reaches into the mine, an omen of opportunity that summons the strength to exact reformation. Revolutions require hope!
And in the fall of 2017, we were miserable. Way more than we were in 2015. We had just been through, well, the election and we were now living in a country that had just elected the “Man†from Labute’s play to our highest office. And yet, in our deliberations over which plays to perform, the desire to provide hope that would lead to action was palpable. We would offer our audience that spark, that bit of light that they needed to incite a revolution.
We realized that we had to be the purveyors of hope. We welcomed our audience. We received them into our home, our circle. “I have come to bare my heart before you.†We bared the hearts of two scientists. Their budgets cut. Their labs closing. Ready to acquiesce. But rather than quit, they plant a tree.
“Start Where You Are†by E.M. Lewis. Featuring Emily Bisno and Lilia Shrayfer. Directed by Alex Jacobs. Photo: Mike Lovett.
We comforted the audience: the scientists won’t give up. Of course, they won’t. But along with these hopeful pieces, we wanted to include plays that provoked the audience to action. We sought out plays that gave agency to the audience to engage with the text. We performed Appreciation by Katie Pearl, a piece that encouraged the audience to clap for a multitude of devastating events brought about by climate change: Let’s clap for the one white rhino left in the world; a round of applause for the waters flooding back into their original waterways. Like the best activist theatre, it was fun, and funny, and you are clapping and laughing until you are really uncomfortable doing so. It feels gross, but you are required to clap for the play to succeed. So you do. And by the end, the audience is still clapping, but it is faint and painful. And we all want it to stop.
“Appreciation†by Katie Pearl. Featuring Sara Kenney. Directed by Raphael Stigliano. Photo: Mike Lovett.
OK, the audience is primed for participation now. So we decided to up the ante even more with The Rube Goldberg Device for the Generation of Hope by Jordan Hall. This play turns the audience into a Rube Goldberg machine. Every audience member is given a strip of paper with an instruction, like this:
 (Stage-Manager) If everyone closes their eyes, and takes a deep breath, turn out all the lights.
 If the lights go out, begin to cry, loud enough that everyone can hear you for about ten seconds.
 If someone begins to cry, say “Shh! It’ll be okay.†Repeat this until the crying stops.
If someone says “It’ll be okayâ€, wait about five seconds and then hiss loudly: “It was never going to be okay.â€
 (3 people) If someone hisses “It was never going to be okay,†start making noises like those of traffic in a big city (cars WHOOSHING past, horns HONKING, feet STOMPING, etc.) Don’t stop until you hear “Donald Trump.â€
When it works, if it works, it is a progressive current that carries the audience on stage for a dance party. Complete audience participation, leaving-your-seats-coming-on-stage-audience-participation. I won’t lie, opening night we were clutching on to each other, dreading what would happen, or not happen. But when the two performers climbed onto rehearsal cubes at the end of the play, surrounded by a dancing audience, we were ecstatic (and relieved.) The audience gazed up at the actors, still dancing, while the performers delivered a substantive promise of hope.
“The Rube Goldberg Device for the Generation of Hope†by Jordan Hall. Featuring Gabi Nail, Joelle Robinson and Ensemble. Directed by Brandon Green. Photo: Mike Lovett.
A: When I think of how improbable it all is, that a planet should have formed in just the right place, with rocks, and water, and one perfect, circling moon – like the biggest symphony of ball bearings you ever saw. How improbable it is that rock and water could catalyze into life—like the littlest symphony of ball bearings you ever saw. That life evolved into fish and moss and dinosaurs and bees and a species of bipedal primate with a brain that happens to generate the tiny electrical storm of consciousness. That this species could come to their own extinction, see their selfishness and say STOP! That we can stand together in this moment, letting nothing but a few words, written by a small woman far away, start us dancing, dancing in the face of it all –
B: And of course, maybe it won’t work. Maybe it’s silly, and redundant. Maybe we’re doomed –
A: But I like to think that the things we put in motion can be bigger, and more complicated than us, and yet very, very simple. I’d like to think that at any moment, one tiny act might be the start of the Rube Goldberg Device that saves the world.
And maybe it is silly. And maybe it won’t work. But our experience with this show is a testament. This is how the revolution will start. With stories. With people in a room baring their hearts. With the one ball bearing rolling down a tube that will launch a revolution.
“I have come to bare my heart before you. I have come to greet you.â€
(Top image:Â Bare Spaces by Angella J. Emurwon. Featuring Emily Bisno, Geraldine Bogard, Peter Diamond, Gabi Nail, Joelle Robinson, Lilia Shrayfer, Daniel Souza, Zain Walker and Alex Wu. Directed by Brandon Green, Alex Jacobs and Raphael Stigliano. Photo: Mike Lovett.)
*Â Â *Â Â *
The production team for The Spaces Between Us included: Gabi Nail, Daniel Souza, and Hannah Uher (artistic collaborators); Brandon Green, Alex Jacobs, and Raphael Stigliano (directors); Aislyn Fair (scenic design); Anthony Fimmano (lighting design); Eleanor McKnight (costume design); Alicia Hyland (sound design), and; Tong Li (stage management).
___________________________
Alicia Hyland has been so grateful to have been a part of Climate Change Theatre Action over the last two years (and surely beyond!). At Brandeis University, Alicia is the Executive Director of the Senior Festival and the Academic Administrator for the Department of Theater Arts. She has also taught several courses and directed readings of new and existing plays at Brandeis. Alicia received her MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University and has had work placed in a variety of literary magazines, including Mason’s Road and Fwriction Review.
Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.
The Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain and SPAIN-USA Foundation have envisioned a cultural exchange residency between New Orleans, Louisiana and Las Palmas, Canary Islands to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences between creators from Spain and the United States through artist residencies and to explore themes related to artistic and cultural heritage from a creative and multidisciplinary perspective. These residencies address the general theme of heritage and conservation, focusing on the interrelationships between art and culture, the use (and re-uses) of heritage sites, new opportunities and public participation in the context of the city and our society.
The calls for artists were announced in April and artists were selected in early July. From New Orleans, artist Monique Verdin will travel to live and work at La Regenta, an art center in Las Palmas of the Canary Islands. From the Canary Islands, artist Julio Blancas will come to New Orleans to live and work at A Studio in the Woods. The two artists will overlap during their time in both regions and will come together to explore the shared cultural and environmental concerns of the Canary Islands and the Gulf Coast. The residencies will span October 22 – December 14, 2018 and honor New Orleans’ tricentennial year and Spanish roots.
About the Artists:
Julio Blancas was born in 1967 in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. He studied art at Las Escuelas de Artes Plásticas in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria and sculpture in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. He works mainly with pencil or graphite on paper, canvas, or satellite dishes and has participated in more than forty group exhibitions and seven solo exhibitions in both his home in Gran Canaria, Spain as well as other countries such as Belgium, Italy, and Germany.
Working almost exclusively with pencil and graphite, Blancas uses nature as a source of inspiration. His methodology is simple: to fill the artistic surface by repeating the essential graphic gesture – the line. The line made with graphite reflects light, creates subtle gradations, and molds forms that arise from the opacity of the black surface. Blancas works with the idea of memory, simulating natural spaces that serve as mental landscapes. These landscapes provide a strongly structural sense of the end result through the art’s intention and meaning.
Julio Blancas, Sedimentos, Charcoal on paper
Monique Verdin has been intimately documenting the complex interconnectedness of environment, economics, culture, climate and change in southeast Louisiana for decades. Her indigenous Houma relatives, their lifeways at the ends of the bayous, and the realities of restoration and adaptation in the heart of America’s Mississippi River Delta have been the primary focus of her work.
Monique is the subject/co-writer/co-producer of the award-winning documentary My Louisiana Love (2012). Her interdisciplinary work has been included in an assortment of environmentally inspired projects, including the multiplatform performance ecoexperience Cry You One (2012-2017) as well as the publication Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas (2013). Monique is a member of the United Houma Nation Tribal Council and is director of The Land Memory Bank & Seed Exchange; an experiential project engaged in building a community record through cultural happenings, strategic installations and as a digital archive to share stories, native seeds and local knowledge.
A Studio in the Woods, located in 7.66 forested acres on the Mississippi River in New Orleans, is dedicated to preserving the endangered bottomland hardwood forest and providing within it a peaceful retreat where visual, literary and performing artists can work uninterrupted. A program of Tulane University’s ByWater Institute, A Studio in the Woods focuses on interrelated areas of programming including artists’ residencies, forest restoration, and science-inspired art education for children and adults. One of a few live-in artists’ retreats in the Deep South, A Studio in the Woods fosters both environmental preservation and the creative work of all artists. For more information, visit: www.astudiointhewoods.org.
About La Regenta:
El Centro de Arte La Regenta, located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a public institution that was founded in 1987 and is dedicated to the exhibition, education, production and promotion of contemporary art, from a local, national and international perspective. Its programming includes exhibitions, workshops, seminars, talks, debates and didactic activities, with attention to all manifestations of contemporary culture, that are conceived for all types of audiences and public. Located in a former tobacco factory, el Centro de Arte La Regenta also houses a library and archive. For more information, visit: http://www.laregenta.org/
Centro de Arte La Regenta Exterior
About the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain:
The Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain, through its official cultural program SPAIN arts & culture, aims to promote Spanish culture in the U.S. through fruitful cultural exchanges among institutions and artists, fostering positive bilateral relations between our two countries. Among its objectives, the program enhances shared knowledge on the cultural and creative industries and facilitates professional opportunities for artists, drawing on our common Hispanic heritage. We partner with American institutions to build institutional alliances and long-lasting transnational bridges through the arts in a broad sense. Our multidisciplinary approach covers a wide range of fields from design, to urban culture, culinary arts, music, cinema, literature, visual arts and performing arts. For more information, visit: https://www.spainculture.us/
Top Image: A Studio in the Woods Exterior, Photo by Neil Alexander, 2018
How is it July already? The year feels like it’s flying by, perhaps because so much is happening. This month features an interview with Chantal Bilodeau, a playwright and translator whose work focuses on science, policy, art, and climate change. She is also the Artistic Director of The Arctic Cycle, an organization created to support the writing, development and production of eight plays that look at the social and environmental changes taking place in the eight Arctic states. (You might remember Bilodeau from one of my Art and Activism of the Anthropocene panels that I hosted at the New York Society Library this past spring.)
We spoke about what drew her to the topic of climate change, how she thinks theater can help shape conversations about the subject, and about her annual workshop called the Artists & Climate Change Incubator, which takes place next month in New York City.
What first drew you to the topic of climate change, and why do you address the issue in your playwriting?
In 2007 I went to Alaska on a summer vacation and I fell in love: the vastness of the landscape, the quality of the light, the unforgiving climate, the colorful characters – the Arctic really grabbed me. This was on the heel of Al Gore’s first documentary An Inconvenient Truth and climate change was very much on my mind. When I came back home, I realized that very few people outside of the Arctic were talking about it, and even less had any awareness of it. Yet what was happening there was a direct consequence of what we were doing here. That’s when I started thinking about addressing climate change in my work. Beyond my own personal interest in the region, I saw a need to capture a moment in time, to acknowledge a transition, to bear witness to disruptions that are so massive that we will be still struggling to comprehend them for years to come.
What role can theater play in getting people to think more seriously about climate change?
From time immemorial, we have created culture through storytelling. Our behaviors, beliefs, and values are a direct result of the stories we tell each other, whether they are about hunting and gathering practices, economic systems, religious tenets, or laws. We first imagine worlds that we then all agree to turn to reality. If we want climate change to be taken seriously, if we want to shift towards a more sustainable way of living, we need these ideas to permeate our stories – and not just our scientific stories but our everyday stories about families, relationships, growing up, interacting with our environment, and dying.
Theatre is a great medium for telling stories. I often compare seeing a play with going shopping. When you shop, you get to try on clothes until you find the one thing that really fits you. When you go see a play, you get to try on – vicariously through the characters on stage – beliefs and values until you find the ones that really fit you. And even better, you get to do that in the company of fellow humans who are doing exactly the same thing.
This combination of storytelling, reflection, and communal experience is why I think theatre is a great ally for addressing climate change. We get to watch how people just like us navigate some of the challenges posed by climate change. We get to see, hear, and feel the climate crisis in three dimensions instead of staring at abstract charts and graphs and trying to figure out why we should care. We’re also given free rein to subjectively experience the full scope of the climate crisis, with all of the emotions that it might generate however inappropriate these might be.
Please tell us about the Artists & Climate Incubator. What is it, and what do you hope it accomplishes?
The Incubator is a 5-day intensive workshop offered every year in New York City at the beginning of August. It’s open to artists, activists, scientists, and educators who want to engage or further their engagement with climate change through artistic practices. Every day, a different guest speaker from the arts and/or the sciences interacts with the participants for a few hours to explore a topic. This is complemented by discussions and work sessions where participants can deepen their thinking about the intersection of arts and climate change and learn from each other.
For several years, I had been looking for a place to encounter artists and people from other fields who were interested in the role of the arts in addressing our climate crisis. Because there are still relatively few of us, I was longing for a community of peers to share successes and challenges and deepen our thinking around this burgeoning field. When I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I decided to create it; that’s how the Incubator was born. My goal with the Incubator is to share knowledge, and empower all of us to get better at what we do and have greater impact.
What kinds of participants are you hoping will join the Incubator?
This is the second year we’re offering the Incubator and what was most exciting about last year’s participants was the variety of fields they represented: leadership studies, theatre studies, activism, theatre, sound, music, visual arts, etc. The more varied the experience, the more we can learn from each other. Some participants were at the beginning of their careers while others were more advanced. A great deal were from the U.S. but others came from Europe. What bound us together was our shared commitment to using the arts to address climate change in a way that preserves the integrity of the artistic process while striving to have a social impact.
Given all we know about climate change, are you hopeful for the future?
It depends on how I think about the question. Do I think that the human species will survive? I don’t know, and truthfully, I’m not invested so much in our survival as I am in the way we live through and handle this crisis. It’s very possible that another species will replace us – homo sapiens is only one of a number of human species that once populated the earth. Why should we be the end of the line when every other species in the world continues to evolve? However, I am hopeful that life will survive, that no matter how much we deplete it, it will find new ways to thrive. Even if it takes millions or billions of years. But regardless of the outcome, we owe it to ourselves to live through this time with dignity. We owe it to ourselves and to every other creature on the planet to do everything in our power to turn this boat around. Terminally-ill patients don’t give up the fight because they know they’re going to die soon. On the contrary, in most cases, they make a point of living life to the fullest because they’re going to die soon. I hope that as a species we can show the same grace.
This post was originally published in Amy Brady’s “Burning Worlds†newsletter. Subscribe to get her newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
___________________________
Amy Brady is the Deputy Publisher of Guernica magazine and Senior Editor of the Chicago Review of Books. Her writing about art, culture, and climate has appeared in the Village Voice, the Los Angeles Times, Pacific Standard, the New Republic, and other places. She is also the editor of the monthly newsletter “Burning Worlds,†which explores how artists and writers are thinking about climate change. She holds a PHD in English and is the recipient of a CLIR/Mellon Library of Congress Fellowship. Read more of her work at AmyBradyWrites.comand follow her on Twitter at @ingredient_x.Â
Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.
Get involved in Scotland’s biggest celebration of science!
This is an open call offering you the chance to be part of the 2019 Edinburgh International Science Festival, which will run from 06 – 21 April. Our call is open to anyone – individuals, groups or organisations – with bright ideas and a passion for communicating them.
In honour of the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings, the 2019 Festival theme is Frontiers, exploring the boundaries of knowledge and the spirit of adventure and enquiry that drives science, technology, engineering and maths. Within this theme, specific areas of focus will include Healthcare Frontiers, Engineering Frontiers, Digital Frontiers, Environmental Frontiers and Planetary Frontiers.
What are we looking for?
We specialise in bringing people together to share ideas and inspiration and look for participants working in diverse fields from across the sciences, arts and cultural sectors. From fabulous shows that enthral people of all ages, to thought-provoking discussions, interactive events and creative performances, exhibitions and workshops that bring science to life for a wide range of audiences, we are open to all suggestions.
How do I get involved?
First, read the documents on our website to find out more about the process. These will help you prepare the information you’ll need to fill in the online proposal form.
Submit your proposal via the online form on our website by 5pm on Friday 14 September for your chance to be part of one of the world’s best science festivals.
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.
Please briefly tell us a personal story of a foraging experience in Scotland that was important to you. It can be a positive, negative or provocative – just vivid in your experience allowing us to share the interest, excitement and challenges perhaps of foraging. You may want to include the following
What do you forage for and where?
Why do you forage ?
What impact, if any, do you believe your foraging might have on the environment?
However, the personal story is the content that Newton is interested in.
Along with this text, Newton would like a hi-res portrait image (300 dpi or 1+ meg capable of being expanded to 6″x6″) to be included in a 7’x9′ artwork as part of the forthcoming exhibition at the Barn and Edinburgh College of art in September as well as Taipei Biennale, Taiwan November – March 2018-19. You will be one of 40 to 50 contributors to this important work. We are now under some pressure of time and would be grateful if you could reply asap.
If you know of other foragers who would like to contribute, please could forward this information or put us in touch. Please do not hesitate to come back with further questions if you would like to know more.
Apologies for cross posting if you receive this email more than once.
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.
We’ve been working on a number of interesting projects! In April we released “Where is the Hope,” an anthology of Short Climate Change Plays which came out of the 2017 Climate Change Theatre Action. That project, a distributed festival, had nearly 150 sites and over 200 events. We’ve also released the 20th issue of the quarterly, with issue 21 coming out shortly, a fantastic exploration of “Material Futures” guest edited by Whitefeather Hunter. We have a number of exciting Guest Editors lined up for future issues of the Quarterly, including the Lab for Aesthetics and Ecology, Ryan Thompson, MK Meador, and Calvin Rocchio. Back issues are available here!Reports and Quarterlies also get sent immediately to all of our subscribers… and that’s what this is really about. A big thing we’re working on is transitioning our membership platform to patreon. This is planned to make it easier to support us and access our work, like the Quarterly. With patreon, you can pay your subscription in monthly instalments, and choose from a number of subscription tiers, adjusting the level of benefits. Digital copies of the Quarterly will be delivered immediately through patreon’s platform. We’re also introducing organizational subscriptions, so your school, university, non-profit or company can subscribe, and receive a special level of perks.
We have a goal of $1200 per month, which is to allow us to continue to improve what we do, paying contributors to the quarterly based on WAGE stands and restarting limited print distribution of the Quarterly, along with continuing to support our programs, projects and administrative costs. But, mainly, we want to pay our contributors, now that we’re publishing at a good clip!
Of course, all current memberships on our existing annual subscription program will be honored for a full year from this email. Even if you signed up 364 days ago, we’ll keep you going for one full year from today as we transition to the new platform. When it comes time to renew, one year from today, we’ll ask that if you continue to value the work that we’re doing, that you re-subscribe on patreon then.
Thanks for continuing to support the CSPA and our work– we hope to keep supporting the dialogue surrounding sustainability and the arts for years to come!
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Creative Carbon Scotland is pleased to announce that our annual gathering for the Green Arts community will take place on Wednesday 7 November in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The conference aims to be the central meeting point for Scotland’s cultural Green Champions, and those interested in how the arts and cultural sector is taking on the challenge of environmental sustainability.
With a focus on carbon management, adaptation to the impacts of climate change, using the arts to shift our wider culture, and best-practice from our member organisations, the full-day event will showcase how we can lead the way to a sustainable Scotland.
You can find out more about the Green Arts Conference, including reports from the previous conferences by clicking here.
To register your interest, and be the first to hear about tickets, and updates for the event, please visit their submissions page.Â
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.
Creative Carbon Scotland are looking for two new members – a practising artist and a climate adaptation expert – to join our Board.
With confirmed funding from Creative Scotland until March 2021, Creative Carbon Scotland is looking forward to continuing our work connecting culture and climate change to ensure that culture’s unique and powerful role in building a sustainable Scotland is understood and harnessed by both the cultural and the sustainability worlds. As part of this we are increasingly working on this in relation to adaptation to the impacts of climate change as well as the reduction of carbon emissions, both for the cultural sector and wider society.
Two new members
Artist
Although our Board has administrative and management members from the cultural sector, it currently lacks a practising artist – by which we mean an artist working in any discipline of the arts, screen or creative industries (ie visual or performing arts, literature, digital, screen, crafts, etc). We are therefore seeking expressions of interest from practising artists who would like to join the Board.
Adaptation expert
Similarly, although we have members with adaptation knowledge we are also looking for someone to add to our expertise and contacts in the field of climate adaptation. (See our website for a list of the current Board members.)
How the Board works
Board meetings generally take place during the afternoon in March, June, September and December at Waverley Court in central Edinburgh; there may also be an occasional away-day or special meeting. They are relatively informal and involve the CCS staff as well as the Board, providing an excellent opportunity to bring together and harness the extensive and varied knowledge of the joint team. Outside meetings, members are asked to contribute by attending events, providing feedback and advice, commenting on documents and speaking to or meeting the team about specific projects or items. Phoning or Skype-ing in to meetings is generally possible.
We would provide an induction for new members, providing them with an understanding of charity trustees’ responsibilities, the work that we do and the context in which we work.
This is a great opportunity people who want to contribute to our work and further their own knowledge about the connections between climate change and culture, or indeed to gain Board-level experience. We are prevented by charity regulations from paying members for their work on the Board and we understand this may make it hard for freelancers to join us. We do however pay all expenses, such as childcare and travel.
In line with our Equalities policy we would encourage applications from younger people, people with disabilities, people from Black, Ethnic Minority or refugee communities and people from socially or financially excluded communities.
Person Specification – essential characteristics
Current practice as an artist in any discipline with an intimate knowledge of the sector in Scotland;
and/or
Professional knowledge of climate change adaptation
as well as:
Demonstrable interest in the connections between culture and climate change
The ability to read and analyse documents and contribute to detailed discussion about policy and activities with other Board members and the Creative Carbon Scotland staff
The ability to attend most Board meetings and contribute outside meetings
The willingness to represent Creative Carbon Scotland and its interests outside the organisation, formally and informally
If you would like to know more, please contact Ben Twist, Director of Creative Carbon Scotland on ben.twist@creativecarbonscotland.com, or call 07931 553872. To apply, please send Ben an email by 31 August outlining your interest and what you would bring to the role as well as a copy of your CV demonstrating how you meet the person specification, and confirming that you have completed the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Survey.
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.
The Southern California ConsolidationProject for the California Air Resource Board (CARB) is an approximately 400,000square-foot facility on a 19-acre campus located in Riverside, CA. The campus is one of the world’s largest and most advanced emissions testing and research facilities and consolidates five existing locations into one state-of-the-art facility. The campus, under the design-build team of ZGF, Hensel Phelps (HP), and Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (AEI), is the largest true zero net energy facility of its type and has the highest sustainability goals including Zero Net Energy, LEED Platinum,CALGreen Tier 2, and Zero Carbon. The Public Art Program is comprised of three open call commissions and is developed and managed by Dyson & Womack.
Opportunities
There are three unique public art commission opportunities open to artists through this open call Request for Qualifications (RFQ) / Request for Proposals (RFP) process. We encourage artists to take time looking at each opportunity and to apply to the commission that best suits their interests and work. Artists may apply to more than one commission opportunity but must apply separately to each. Artists are encouraged to submit Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) with artwork samples and letters of interest that are relevant to the specific commission to which they are applying, even when applying to multiple opportunities. We encourage artists to engage critically with the mission of CARB and the vision of the Art Plan to shape the future of public art in California and across our diverse communities.
The context of CARB is one of innovation, discovery, and stewardship of the environment. It is integral to the story of California and is a rich space for the creation of art. CARB was formed through a merger of the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the California Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, in 1967. It is charged with protecting the public from the harmful effects of air pollution and developing programs and actions to fight climate change.
All SOQs must be submitted electronically through the online SOQ submission platform located at the RFQ site, www.CARB.dysonwomack.com by Friday, August 31, 2018 at 5:00 PM (PST).
Artists and Artist Teams may apply to one or more of the three open call public art commission opportunities but must submit a unique SOQ to each. Artists and Artist Teams may only apply once to each specific commission opportunity.
We strongly encourage applicants to review all materials and supporting documents available prior to responding to this RFQ. SOQs submitted late, or through any other means than the application portal, will not be reviewed.
We’ve been working on a number of interesting projects! In April we released 
We have a goal of $1200 per month, which is to allow us to continue to improve what we do, paying contributors to the quarterly based on WAGE stands and restarting limited print distribution of the Quarterly, along with continuing to support our programs, projects and administrative costs. But, mainly, we want to pay our contributors, now that we’re publishing at a good clip!
