Festival 2008
On May 10, Wesleyan and its community partners mounted a festival in Veterans Memorial Park which featured over 40 artists’ performances and visual art installations, including Planet Next: Green Movement, the commissioned work by Ann Carlson; exhibitions and demonstrations by over 20 environmental organizations and vendors; and a farmer’s market by 16 local food vendors. Over 2,000 people attended and of those surveyed, 86% indicated that the Festival enhanced their understanding of climate change; 71% indicated that the arts range from very important to essential in raising public awareness about climate change; and 54% were moderately to very likely to change their behavior to respond to global climate change as a result of attending the Festival.
The festival planning committee consisted of Krishna Winston, Robert Russo, John Hall, Stephan Allison, Mark Gawlak, Fred Elmore, John Hennelly, Carolyn Kirsh, Lee Godburn, Barbara Ally, Dic Wheeler, Rebecca Bilodeau, Shawn Hill, Barry Chernoff, Jenny Royer, Adrian Nieves, Alexandra Provo, Sarah Lazare, Laney Bank, Trevor Davis, Dominick Grant, Jacob Mirsky, Virginia Rollefson, Valerie Marinelli, Suzanne O’Connell, Ann Carlson, Geen Thazhampallath, Janis Astor del Valle, Juliet Ingber, Frank Kuan, Pamela Tatge and Ellie Wiener.
Landfill by Marion Belanger
Grass blankets the mound of earth that holds the waste and refuse of a city. At first glance the fresh green of spring growth appears to mask any vestige of what lies beneath the surface of the ground. But upon closer inspection, unnatural textures and colors, fragments of plastic, and pieces of material culture are seen, as if woven into the land. Landfill was commissined by Wesleyan's Center for the Arts and Environmental Studies program for the Feet to the Fire Festival 2008. The piece has been shown both at the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism Gallery and at the Hartford Convention Center as part of OneThing, an event that focused on energy conservation.