The COAL Art and Environment Prize, dedicated this year to the climate (a national priority in 2015) will be awarded for the 6th consecutive year to an artist selected from 10 finalists, for an art project concerning the climate. The Ocean occupies 71% of the surface of the planet, but is often conspicuously absent from the engagements made by states in climate negotiations. It should be major factor! To place the ocean at the center of the debate, Tara Expéditions et the COAL Association are launching a special “Oceans” prize for the COAL Art and Environment 2015 competition. The winning artist will be awarded a residency aboard Tara during an expedition in the Pacific Ocean.

Special Award “Oceans”

The winner of this special prize will spend a month aboard TARA, a legendary boat built for extreme conditions, during a mission entitled “Coral Reefs Facing Global Change on the Planet.” The expedition will take place from 2016 to 2018 in the Pacific Ocean, particularly in the Coral Triangle of Southeast Asia. The expedition aims to understand the evolution of coral reefs – vital hotspots of marine biodiversity that are currently confronting rapid changes in demography and climate. This special “Oceans” Prize will be awarded to an artistic project engaged in saving the oceans in light of current climate issues.

The COAL Art and Environment Prize 2015 – Objective COP21

Since 2010, the COAL Art & Environment Prize has been revealing the richness of responses brought by artists to address current environmental problems. Each year the awards honor 10 projects related to environmental issues, selected through an international call for projects. This year the COAL Art and Environment Prize is dedicated to the theme of climate – to inspire the COP21, and offer the general public and policy makers highly creative and unusual ways to understand the complexity of climate change.

The winner of the COAL Art and Environment Prize 2015 will receive a grant of 5,000 euros and a residency at the Domaine de Belval, owned by the François Sommer Foundation.

The winner of the special “Oceans” Prize will embark aboard TARA in 2016, during an expedition in the Pacific Ocean.

This sixth edition of the COAL Prize Art and Environment is part of ArtCOP21, an exceptional cultural festival initiate by COAL and our UK partners Cape Farewell, that will take place in France during COP21. ArtCOP21 is an unprecedented collaboration of cultural actors who are keen to instigate an ecological transition towards a healthier environment – through arts and culture. The mission of ArtCOP21 is to engage the wider public in creating a positive vision for a sustainable future.

The call for proposals is open until February 28, 2015, midnight

Download the call for entries

SCHEDULE

Application deadline : February 28th, 2015 at midnight.

The COAL Prize will be awarded in Autumn 2015.

PLAYA’s residencies are open to visual and performing artists, scientists, writers, and individuals engaged in other forms of creative research. PLAYA welcomes a range of applicants–from emerging artists of promise to professionals with an established history of accomplishment.

Residencies are awarded for 2, 4, 6, or 8 weeks and include housing, work or studio space, and twice weekly group dinners at no cost. There is a $35 application fee for individuals ($70 for collaborative teams) to cover administrative costs.

For more information visit our website at www.playasummerlake.org.

Apply online at http://playa.submittable.com/submit

Applications are now open with a deadline of March 1, 2015.

PLAYA, in south central Oregon, is a retreat for creative individuals who are committed and passionate about their work and who will benefit from time spent in a remote location. PLAYA offers seclusion and quiet in a natural environment and the opportunity for interaction, if desired, with a cohort of residents and the local rural community. A residency provides the time and space to create substantive work or to research and reflect upon one’s creative or scientific processes.

Fit to Burst is a London based theatre company that makes magical shows, with heart, for everyone.

Conceived and directed by Rebecca Tortora and devised by the company ‘Last Night I Met You Dreaming’ is a magical allegory exploring our ambivalent relationship with nature and the dangers of taking too much.

Inspired by the magic realism writer Isabel Allende, the activist and playwright Eve Ensler and the journalist Naomi Klein ‘Last Night I Met You Dreaming’ is a journey into the wild, a warning and a call for connection.

In an absurd mechanical world where nature is suppressed and speed is king a journalist has forgotten how to feel. She is charged with writing about a mountain in ‘The Region’, a lush green place on the verge of collapse. This ancient silver mine, the source of the first global currency and the site of oppression, is to be newly tapped for resources despite warnings that it will implode. When her editor tries to block the story, supernatural forces intervene, her filing cabinets come to life and she is sucked inside. Here she meets Lola, a storyteller, and a host of spirits and mavericks who conspire to unravel the story and unlock her heart.

‘Last Night I Met You Dreaming’ is a tale of passion, resistance, one woman’s journey to connection and the individual as a microcosm for the world. It asks how can we look at our animal nature? What is the role of that in our destruction of our only home? Can emotional connection help to create a more sustainable future?

In May 2014 Fit to Burst received a grant from Arts Council England to support a one month research and development period. As a result of this they now have a full script, a great story, strong musical/movement and design elements and are ready to go into full production. 

They are booked to premier at exciting London theatre and art space The Bussey Building in July 2015. And are seeking support to make it happen!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/last-night-i-met-you-dreaming

If we don’t raise this money we can’t create the show. We really need your support!

Help us to #makeithappen!

www.fittoburst.co.uk

@Fit_to_Burst

The Holding Ground conference will bring together artists of all mediums who are interested in using their creativity to explore the potential of an ecologically conscious society, in a world beyond unsustainable energy practices.

The conference will take place in NYC on March 14-15, 2015. Our emphasis throughout the conference will be on using art as a means to explore place.

We hope that this event will recharge and inspire participants to become “seeds” of alternative consciousness. Yet we are also humbly committed to helping create new connections that persist and sustain well beyond the weekend’s events – to form networks of roots for holding ground.

Weekend Overview:

Saturday Location: The Commons, Brooklyn, 388 Atlantic Ave. (btwn Bond and Hoyt) - 9 AM – 10 PM

morning:

• welcome & introductions
• “dérive” walk in which participants will have a unique experience of place by paying attention to details in the landscape that are otherwise often overlooked

afternoon:

• all participants will have a voice in explaining their dream or current project, being encouraged to focus on ways they might share passions, talents, and experiences with others
• participants will take part in a series of discussion and interactive sessions facilitated by working artists and artist-activists

evening:

• we will gather for a concert, art, and the announcement of a new environmental arts award sponsored by New York Loves Mountains

Sunday Location: Textile Arts Center in Manhattan, 26 W. 8^th St. (btwn MacDougal and 5^th Ave.) - 10 AM – 1 PM

• we will merge talents and passions to create a collaborative public art piece, guided by Toronto-based visual artist Tania Love, using plant based inks
• the piece will be on view for the community to the end of March

Sessions Facilitated by Nicole Pouliot, James Cersonsky, Andrew Munn, Monica Hunken and others.

For more information and to apply, visit www.newyorklovesmountains.org/holding-ground-conference/