Ignite! The Art of Sustainability: Innovative Environmental Exhibition Travels Throughout California

June 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Media Contact: Adrienne McGraw, Exhibit Envoy; 415.525.1553 / adrienne@exhibitenvoy.org

Ignite! The Art of Sustainability
Innovative Environmental Exhibition Travels Throughout California

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – June 15, 2012 – Illuminating both an historical and contemporary perspective on the natural and human forces that have shaped the current landscape of California, a new traveling exhibition, Ignite! The Art of Sustainability, launches its statewide tour this summer.

The Design Museum on the campus of UC Davis is the premiere venue for this exhibit inspired by California’s environment and sustainability, running June 18 – August 31, 2012. One Shield Avenue, Davis, CA; 530.752.6150.

The exhibit then travels to the Humboldt State University Art Gallery, running September 23 - November 18, 2012. Arcata, CA and Arte Americas, February 10 – April 7, 2013. 1630 Van Ness Avenue,  Fresno, CA; 559.266-2623.  In the second half of the tour, Ignite! makes its way to several high profile Southern California museums, including Pasadena Museum of California Art, 490 East Union Street, Pasadena, CA; 626.568.3665 and Museum of History & Art, Ontario, 225 South Euclid Avenue, Ontario, CA; 909.395.2510.
The traveling exhibition, produced by Exhibit Envoy and curated by Kate Davies, presents original artworks by contemporary California artists who have long focused their work on issues of the environment and sustainability.

Thirteen of California’s foremost environmental artists collaborate to communicate a heightened connection to their natural surroundings through rich imagery using a variety of media from the traditional (photographs, painting, and video) to the unconventional (smog /particulate matter on porcelain). What emerges are the unique traits of California’s ecological regions and the range of extremes present in our state.

Ignite! The Art of Sustainability is a result of community dialogues hosted throughout the state by the Green Museums Initiative Committee of the California Association of Museums. Contemporary artists, known for their focus on environmental issues, were invited to join scientists, environmentalists, and leaders in business and museums for conversations that have inspired regional collaborations to seek solutions to ecological challenges.

Based on this exchange, the exhibit artists – Kim Abeles, Robert Dawson, Sant Khalsa, Judith Lowry, Linda MacDonald, Ann Savageau, and Kim Stringfellow – created new work to translate the complexity of these issues. Additional work from artists Penelope Gottlieb, Newton & Helen Mayer Harrison, Gyöngy Laky, Luke Matjas and Daniel McCormick was added to deepen the exploration of California’s ecology at local and regional levels. Together, their approach is multidisciplinary, drawing on art, science, spirituality, and social justice.

The exhibition, like the state, can be divided into six regions defined by geographical features and population centers: Northern California, Sierra Nevada & Foothills, Central Coast, Central Valley, South Central Coast, and Southland Deserts. Interpretive panels include background information and quotes from each artist to help the viewers reflect on the relationship to the places that we inhabit.    
         
Bay Area photographer Robert Dawson celebrates the success stories of environmental preservation, “For all the destruction witnessed, however, I discovered that California remains a remarkable source of innovation that is often fueled by love of the place and memory of what it once was.” Colorful and chaotic digital drawings depict a distorted scene colliding of natural and humanmade objects. “Ultimately my work attempts to re-instill a sense of mystery and wonder to our world,” explains Luke Matjas, Central Coast artist.

While each region faces unique challenges, the exhibit explores topics that cross regional, state, and international boundaries. Water is one of those resources woven through the exhibit. Sant Khalsa work asks us to consider the power water has to determine our destiny, “Historically it was the import of water that grew Southern California and it will be water that will decide our future.” In a commitment to the spirit of this exhibition, exhibition fabrication includes reused and repurposed materials and art crates built by suppliers that utilize green business practices.

This traveling exhibition was made possible by funding from The James Irvine Foundation. For more information about the Green Museums Initiative and the larger Ignite! Museums as Catalysts for Sustainability project of the Ca Association of Museums, www.calmuseums.org.

Exhibit Envoy provides traveling exhibitions and professional services to museums throughout California.  Our mission is to build new perspectives among Californians, create innovative exhibitions and solutions, and advance institutions in service to their communities. For more information, please visit www.exhibitenvoy.org.