SCIENCE AND ART JOIN TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE
IN ECOARTS EVENT SEPTEMBER 14 – OCTOBER 6
 in Boulder, Colorado, and Surrounding Communities

—Concerts, Plays, Panels, and More in a Collaborative Effort
 to Address Issues of a Changing Environment--

BOULDER – Scientists, poets, mothers on stilts? From September 14-October 6, in Boulder, Colorado and surrounding communities, EcoArts will link together an extraordinary array of national and local events in a celebration of science and the arts designed to awaken people to the realities of climate change, while delighting them in the possibilities of a sustainable future.

More than 20 major science, arts, environmental, educational, indigenous, and other organizations are coming together to present performances, exhibits, talks, tours, feasts, and parades –   plus  tours of culinary gardens, science exhibits, coal-fired power plants, wind turbines and more.

Some highlights:

September 14 - December 21 – The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, in collaboration with EcoArts, presents “Weather Report: Art and Climate Change,” an exhibition curated by the world-renowned art critic Lucy Lippard. More than 50 artists from around the U.S., many collaborating with climate change scientists, will present their work at a variety of indoor and outdoor locations in Boulder,  including BMoCA, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Norlin Library, Fiske Planetarium, and more. Subject matter includes desertification, floods, changing watersheds, global warming, renewable energy, carbon profiling, reforestation, species transformation, the ozone layer, ocean acidification, soil subsidence, and renewable energy.

September 21 - 23 – Indigenous Knowledge on Climate Change will be a three-day celebration of ancient and current climate change observations with films from the Arctic to the Pacific Islands curated by Ava Hamilton (Arapaho),  with talks, workshops, panels, performances, sky knowledge presentations, music, dancing, feasting, and more. Speakers include Quichuan musician and healer Oscar Santillán from Otavalo, Ecuador; Denaina Athabaskan attorney for the Native American Rights Fund in Alaska Heather Kendall-Miller; and Northern Cheyenne tribal archaeologist and spokesperson Gilbert Brady; among others. 

September 29.   – The Wonder of Science Saturday brings together 7 major science labs (JILA, LASP, NCAR, NIST, NREL, NOAA, and SSI) to offer hands-on activities for adults and children on climate change and sustainability. Other events include performances of 10-minute plays on climate change created by youth playwrights and climate change scientists; workshops on hybrid cars and renewable energy; and parades of Mothers Acting Up on stilts.

October 5-  Ensemble Galilei in a spectacular concert with photos from the National Geographic archives projected across the stage; October 6  a panel on “Ecology, Religion, and Spirit” from a variety of religious traditions; and a Poetry Reading by internationally renowned eco-poets, reading from the soon-to-be-published book,  Uncontained

EcoArts is also linked with a wide range of practical,  sustainable living,  education opportunities. September 23 – 30 Boulder Solar Week offers a week of workshops, educational events, and a tour to learn about renewable energy and innovative green building technologies designed to inspire people to make sustainable choices.  September 28-30 Boulder County Going Local presents an uplifting celebration of local food, energy, economy, culture, and community in a county-wide festival, conference, and expo – part of the national “re-localization” movement. And October 6, the Colorado Renewable Energy Society presents tours of solar homes in Denver, Ft. Collins, and Colorado Springs, part of the American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour.

On weekdays between September 14 – October 6,  EcoArts collaborators will host talks, tours, discussions, and other events with topics as varied as art and science, interspecies communication or marriage made in heaven?, the odyssey of glaciers, and climate change in outer space.

EcoArts’ 20 plus collaborators include the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder Public Library, Center for ReSource Conservation, CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences), City of Boulder Office of Environmental Affairs, Colorado Renewable Energy Society, Curious Theatre, Dairy Center for the Arts, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration), and more.

EcoArts originated with Marda Kirn, founder and former director of the Colorado Dance Festival, who says that EcoArts core activities are based on a foundation of scientific research and are designed to close the gap between awareness and action in new non-partisan ways.  “We wanted to harness the power of the arts to help people deeply feel the world they live in,” says Kirn.  “We hope that EcoArts can bring both incredible artistic experiences and solid scientific information together to help people understand climate change and what we can do, together, to build a sustainable future - and have it be inspiring, encouraging, and fun in the process!”

Kirn explains, “We are trying to shift people from the 3-Ds to the 4th when they think about climate change. We want to move from Denial (it is not happening), Despair (it is happening but there is nothing I can do about it), and Delinquency (it is happening but we’re all going to die anyway, so let’s get a Humvee!) to Delight (it is happening, but we have an opportunity in crisis to create a new world, now, together).

EcoArts programming is designed to meet five guiding principles: scientific accuracy, artistic excellence, environmental effectiveness, ethical practice, and following “the middle way” of being non-partisan. 

While each organization is primarily responsible for funding its own activities, EcoArts collaborative efforts have been made possible, in part, by funding from the Compton Foundation, Colorado Council on the Arts, the Boulder Arts Commission, Andy Warhol Foundation, Ms. Anonymous, the Schramm Foundation, the Solstice Institute, and Xcel Energy, among others.

For the full schedule of EcoArts events (exhibits, performances, talks, tours, panels, workshops, and more), click on:

            www.ecoartsonline.org   after July 26

For interviews, the EcoArts schedule to date, extraordinary photos, and further information, please call 303.449.2128, or email press.ecoarts@gmail.com