A Brief Description of the Exhibition

In conjunction with the April 15-16 2nd annual CCSU Symposium on Global Sustainability and Climate Change, the CCSU Art Galleries present an exhibition which poses the questions: can we humans achieve sustainable development, “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”? And is ecologically aware art an effective means of promoting the learning process that is a prerequisite to sustainability? 

With some 30 works by 22 artists, in a range of media, the exhibition encompasses the larger contextual theme of a global ecology and points to the tension between the natural sublime and a toxic man-made sublime. An historical dimension is provided by the suggestion of 19th century industrialization, current climate change, and growing alarm. Some of the larger issues of sustainability on which the exhibition focuses are stewardship of watershed, the tension between fast and slow food, alternative clean energy sources, urban forestry and open space. These issues are addressed at the regional and local levels: Hartford’s Park River watershed; slow food in a novel installation of New Britain’s Urban Oaks Organic Farm Stand; the celebration of urban forestry and our local open space in New Britain’s Olmsted-designed Walnut Hill Park.

The opening on March 19 is the occasion for the Kick-Off of the Park Water Arts Campaign 2009-15, coinciding with Phase I of Hartford’s MDC Clean Water Project. The exhibition culminates on April 24 in the participatory action of making a Bass Brook Basin Rivercube, a first step in engaging those who live within the Park River Watershed in urban watershed stewardship.

Public school teachers and their classes are especially invited to visit this exhibition, as students are the next generation who will answer the questions posed in SUSTAINABLE?  The art accompanied by a brochure with hard facts as well as artists statements challenges the visitor. Do the arts have something important to contribute to our ability to respond to mounting environmental concerns?