Enviro-Art Gallery Expansion
Year Initiated: 2017 | Year of Expansion: 2020-2021
The Problem
We are operating in a sometimes-hostile era of anti-science, anti-climate change politics. There needs to be a space and method for conveying local and global environmental degradation and injustice that is emotive, informative, and reflective to the point of engaging those who don’t always consider the environment in their everyday lives.
The Solution
The Enviro-Art Gallery is a showcase of student and professional artwork designed to highlight the beauty and struggles of nature. It presents art as a call to action, working to connect people to places, ecosystems, and international experiences of nature through engaging visual dialogues.
Through the use of a variety of media and artistic styles, the gallery works to provide a relatable and easily absorbable method for environmental awareness and activism. The purpose is to promote actionability within communities by visually highlighting the importance of, aesthetic nature of, and anthropogenic threats to Mother Earth. This program addresses persistent and pervasive environmental misinformation today, giving local and global communities an opportunity to accurately and emotively engage with environmental issues through art and local experts.
Previous Success
Check out the Enviro-Art Gallery 2021 on social media for updates on this year's showcase!
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2017 James River High School: Consisted of 100+ pieces submitted from two high schools, a presentation from a professor from the University of Richmond on the role of environmentalism as a peacebuilding tool, and 90+ attendees who said they left the event truly feeling something for nature. Major outcomes include the increase in environmental programming and commitment after the completion of the showcase in the form of recycling programs, a composting program, and parking lot and roof-top gardens.
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2018 Duke University: Though smaller, this showcase presented 50+ undergraduate, graduate, and professional works to 100+ people on Abele residential quad, promoting environmental awareness at Duke University on April 22nd.
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2019 Duke University: Consisted of a month-long exhibit of 50+ pieces in Duke’s Rubenstein Arts Center in April, a large reception in Duke’s Rubenstein Arts Center Lounge, and a “Ruby Friday” Talk on the role of art as an environmental call to action. The relationship between the environment and the arts truly gained traction at Duke after this.
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2020 Duke and Bond University: Prior to COVID-19, students and community members at Duke picked up the Enviro-Art Gallery for an additional month-long showcase on Duke’s campus. An Enviro-Art Gallery showcase was also set to take place at Bond University, Gold Coast, receiving substantial faculty and community support. Although the showcase has been postponed for this larger global endeavor, students and environmental innovation organizations there have agreed to keep the environmental art movement going in that community through an annual Enviro-Art Gallery showcase and programming.
