ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION NOVEMBER 7, THURSDAY, 4PM
INSTITUTE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, ROOM # 380
In conjunction with the exhibition Tales of Environmental Turbulence,
on view at the Institute on the Environment, there will be a roundtable
discussion as a concluding event in the one-year Conversation-E project on the
intersection of art and science. Participants in this conversation are special
guests Peter Reich, Regents Professor and Senior Chair in Forest Ecology; Lewis
Gilbert, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Institute on the Environment;
and Sean Connaughty, multi-media artist, Adjunct Professor of Art, U of MN. They will join Jonee Kulman Brigham, AIA,LEED
AP, Research Fellow, Center for Sustainable Building Research, and Roslye Ultan,
Art Historian/Curator, Senior Faculty MLS/ U of MN, co- recipients of the Conversation-E
grant, in a critical look at how art can work with science as a stimulant for
progressive, innovative and interventionist thinking.
We will discuss questions that probe into the multiple
layers of environmental turbulence for the common good of global survival. How
do we awaken people to be participants in the evolving and dramatic changes in
nature? What is the role of art and science in adapting and responding to
climate change, for example? Artists and scientists respond to environmental
issues in different ways. How are they different and/or similar? How can they
work together to make a difference in how we investigate complex issues and
bring about greater involvement and understanding in our communities? People in
diverse cultures have different ways of seeing and knowing their circumstances
in society. How do we encourage the disciplines of art/aesthetics and science to
work together to form new initiatives and innovations that can serve our
culture’s immediate and long term needs for sustainability? These questions are
some that the roundtable participants will delve into as we struggle with the
impact of climate change and related environmental concerns.
By Roslye Ultan
