Ian Garrett

Eco Arts: Students Create Musical Instruments From Recycled Materials – Ecofriend

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Students at the Applewild School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, have a green mindset at an age none of us would have ever thought about conserving the environment. A team of students in grades four and five at the school were in need of some musical instruments for a concert, but unlike us they didn’t buy them, but instead they created their own instruments and that too from trashed objects. The instruments were made from materials like washboards, pans, pots, PVC piping and plastic water jugs. Each instrument created was unique since no one knew how they would sound before someone tried to play them.

 

via Eco Arts: Students Create Musical Instruments From Recycled Materials – Ecofriend.

Expression and environment

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By Andrew Taylor on the Artful Manager

When we talk about cultural disciplines — dance, theater, fiction, and so on — we tend to speak of them as if they are self-contained. Theater may respond to evolving stage technology and alternative spacers, but it’s still roughly theater in the way we know it. And because significant changes to the environment have tended to happen rather slowly, it’s been easy to maintain that illusion for quite some time.

This overview of the past and future of the novel, in Time magazine, reminds us that forms of artistic expression are entirely intertwined with their environment. They form and evolve in response to that environment. And they change when that environment changes. The birth of the novel in the 18th century was one such response to environmental change.

via Expression and environment – The Artful Manager .

Garden Museum is Renamed and Re-done : TreeHugger

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It used to be called the Museum of Garden History, now its the Garden Museum. And it used to be a shabby, down-at-the-heels space, carved out of the ground floor of a former church. And now it is a “wow”: renovated by London architects Dow Jones. The museum has been around since 1977, saved because the tomb of the 17th century plant hunters, the Tradescants, was discovered in the church yard and the tomb of Captain Bligh, famed captain of HMS Bounty.

 

via Garden Museum is Renamed and Re-done : TreeHugger.

Arts Marketing: Want a bailout of the arts? Dont make the ask in an Armani suit

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When the big three automotive CEOs flew separate private jets to Washington, DC to plead for public funds, I remember thinking to myself that I was thankful that I was a publicist and marketing director for a non-profit arts organization. The type of arrogance it takes to fly corporate jets to ask for billions of dollars in public aid surely could only be found in the private sector.

However, recently there has been a dust up about executive compensation in the non-profit arts sector, particularly because as the economy tightens, more and more arts organizations are pleading their case with stakeholders, some going as far as Mr. Kaiser in asking for a government bailout of the arts. Although I have tremendous respect for Mr. Kaiser, I am convinced that perhaps he isnt the best emissary for the non-profit arts–how does it look for a non-profit arts administrator who makes more than $1 million a year in salary to be the champion of the suffering arts scene?

via Arts Marketing: Want a bailout of the arts? Dont make the ask in an Armani suit.

Chicago’s Columbia College Hosts Challenging Environmental Art Show : TreeHugger

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Challenging visions of sustainability, or rather the lack of it, are currently on show at the A+D Gallery at Columbia College in Chicago. Part environmental art exhibition, part cutting edge design show, works include photos by Edward Burtynsky contrasting with melting wax lamps (pictured above) by young German designers. The multimedia approach taken by the show’s curators broadens the debate about consumption patterns and industrial production and pollution. Click over for more images…

 

via Chicago’s Columbia College Hosts Challenging Environmental Art Show : TreeHugger.

The Stage / News / Children’s arts venue becomes first wind-powered theatre in UK

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A children’s arts venue in south-west London has become the first theatre in the UK to be powered solely by wind.

The Colour House Children’s Theatre, based within the Grade II-listed Merton Abbey Mills, has had a new wind turbine installed which will completely cut its electricity bill, saving the venue up to £10,000 every year.

The turbine, which will supply the site with renewable, environmentally-friendly power, has been sponsored by Green Energy UK, in partnership with the owner of the building, Office Estate Ltd – meaning that its installation has not cost the theatre itself any money.

via The Stage / News / Children’s arts venue becomes first wind-powered theatre in UK.

Eat chips, drink beer, save trash: One L.A. guy’s almost zero-waste year | green LA girl

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Think hardcore environmentalism requires living like a monk? Not if you ask Dave Chameides, a steadicam operator living in L.A. who collected all his trash for a year and blogged about the project. Dave created less trash in all of 2008 than an average American family throws out in a week. And more impressively, he achieved this eco-feat while drinking beer and eating potato chips.

“I didn’t want to change the way that I was living my life,” Dave says. “If I wanted to drink beer, I wasn’t going to say, well, I can’t find a way to drink beer without creating packaging, so therefore I’m not going to. Instead, what I’m going to do is look at the packaging in beer and pick the most ‘eco-friendly’ way to do it.”

via Eat chips, drink beer, save trash: One L.A. guy’s almost zero-waste year | green LA girl.

Environmental Working Group Study Shines Light on Best and Worst CFLs : TreeHugger

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Want to make the switch to energy efficient, long-lasting Compact Fluorescent Lamps CFLs but dont know which brand is best for you and the environment? The Environmental Working Group has the answers youre looking for.

The EWG just released a study listing the top earth-friendly CFLs on the market. Lighten Up in 09 features the top brands and where to buy them, what to do when a bulb breaks CFLs contain mercury, and annual savings on energy and utility expenses. Seven bulbs with the lowest mercury content and the best longevity—lasting 8,000 to 15,000 hours the EnergyStar standard is 6,000 hours—got top honors in the study. The cream of the crop?

via Environmental Working Group Study Shines Light on Best and Worst CFLs : TreeHugger.

Apollo Expands Its Green Initiative

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From Lighting & Sound America Online, November 11, 2008:

As a continuation of its green initiative, Apollo Design Technology Inc announced at the recent LDI exhibition in Las Vegas its complete process switch to laser technology for all gobo production. Starting with steel gobos in 2007, laser technology is now being used to produce Apollo glass gobos. The change from chemical etching to laser technology eliminates thousands of gallons of hazardous waste annually, the company says.

“Working with laser technology for the past three years has been amazing,” states company founder and president Joel Nichols. “The image consistency lasers provide will catch the user’s attention. The additional benefits to the environment and workplace safety that this technology provides make this change a win-win for everyone. With a transition to more eco-friendly packaging also in the works, we are extremely pleased to be delivering all of our gobos in a cleaner, safer way.”

Other links:

A short video on Apollo’s website detailing the new laser technology and its benefits

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Go to the Green Theater Initiative