GCI Arts and Climate Change short
Channel: Gloucester Culture
Date: 2020-07-27

Short Version - presentation only. 37 min. duration.

“Arts, Insight, and Community Building” Public Forum SeriesProduced by Gloucester Cultural Initiative.

The myriad ways that Cape Ann's artists are helping people understand and take action on climate change is the subject of an online Zoom forum sponsored by the Gloucester Cultural Initiative (GCI) and Sawyer Free Library tapped on Friday, May 1, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Meri Jenkins, artist and former supervisor of Creative Economy initiatives at the Massachusetts Cultural Council, moderates the discussion of how artists can help "inform, inspire, and awaken" people to engage more with issues around climate change. She has observed that "Over millennia, artists have responded again and again to historical and social events and circumstances. No surprise to me that it is to the arts that people turn in times of hardship and grief for comfort and for hope.  Artists have the gift of reflecting the world back to us, again and again, through deeply felt experience."

The two featured speakers, Susan Quateman and Les Bartlett, have combined silk painting with photography in their collaborations focusing on environmental challenges to New England landscapes.  Meri Jenkins has been traveling across the Commonwealth establishing creative economy initiatives with a keen eye on public art works.  Her knowledge base extends beyond Massachusetts to national and global trends of community cultural development and planning.  

"Arts and Climate Change" is being produced on-line by the Gloucester Cultural Initiative, a non-profit 501 (C)(3) organization with an inclusive mission to enhance the cultural vitality of Gloucester, Massachusetts. GCI fosters collaborations  synergy and innovative ideas that enrich community.  www.facebook.com/gloucesterartsandculture/   


Program co-sponsor Sawyer Free Library and its affiliate The Gloucester Lyceum seek to enrich the lives of Cape Ann residents through thought-provoking and intellectually rewarding programs in the arts and humanities, science, law, and politics, business, and communication. www.sawyerfreelibrary.org  

Want to do more and take action, be involved in this important movement?
CAPE ANN CLIMATE COALITION 
https://towngreen2025.org/ca-climate-...

Thanks to our sponsors, partners and folks like you!

Board of Directors, Gloucester Cultural Initiative 
Valerie Nelson, “Arts, Insight, and Community Building” forum chair 
Jo-Ann Castano, Zoom Production / Communications Liaison 
Gloucester Cultural Initiative  
https://www.facebook.com/gloucesterar...

Beth Pocock, Sawyer Free Library, Co-Sponsors
https://sawyerfreelibrary.org/
Massachusetts Libraries  https://libraries.state.ma.us/
Institute of Museum and Library Services  https://www.imls.gov/

Susan Quateman, Artist & Panelist http://www.susanquateman.com/

Les Bartlett, Artist & Panelist http://www.lesliebartlett.com/

Meri Jenkins, Moderator and advisor

Lisa Smith, Film Editor, Cape Ann Climate Coalition  
https://www.facebook.com/Cape-Ann-Cli...
Nathaniel Kirby, Technical Administrator, Cape Ann Climate Coalition

Rebecca Reynolds, Technical Assistant, Manship Artists Residency + Studios and on the CA Climate Change Coalition Art focus group
https://www.manshipartists.org/

Gail McCarthy, Staff Writer - Gloucester Daily Times
https://www.gloucestertimes.com/

Heather Atwood, Producer and Host at 1623 Studio 
Cory Curcuru Producer and Host at 1623 Studios and The Bridge https://youtu.be/AbyOeA3hjQE
https://www.bridgecapeann.com/

Joey Ciaramitaro, Producer and Host GloucesterCast podcast, https://goodmorninggloucester.com/

TownGreen 2025  http://www.towngreen2025.org/

Cape Ann Climate Coalition - Climate Arts Group
https://www.facebook.com/Cape-Ann-Cli... 

Zoom host, ArtsGloucester   https://www.facebook.com/ArtsGloucester/