{"id":12837,"date":"2014-02-12T18:10:40","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T00:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=12837"},"modified":"2026-01-13T15:00:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:00:53","slug":"art-and-sustainability-the-next-big-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/02\/12\/art-and-sustainability-the-next-big-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"Art and Sustainability: The Next Big Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Today is about making our community more beautiful,\u201d exclaimed State Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), at a recent EDF-sponsored community art show and mural launch complete with live DJ\u2019s, an interactive urban planning workshop, local artists, and youth activists.<\/p>\n

I know what you might be thinking. \u201cSay what? EDF and art?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is one of the new routes we\u2019re taking in our commitment to \u201cfinding the ways that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

We looked to accomplish two things with this project: to help spark imagination and civic pride by bringing local artists and youth together to create a vision for a more sustainable city, and to make a concerted effort to meet the community where they <\/i>are on the environmental issues they<\/i> care about. The results were both inspiring and enlightening.<\/p>\n

Our first launch event, in Fresno, CA, featured local muralist Mauro Carrera<\/a> and local nonprofit partner organizations Valley LEAP<\/a>, Arte Americas, and Fresno Building Healthy Communities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The vivid imagery of the Fresno mural was spectacular: an 8\u2019 x 16\u2019 mobile fresco honoring the agricultural heritage of California\u2019s Central Valley and its hardworking migrant workers, while integrating and embracing a new vision of more clean energy, fresh water, bike access, clean air, and green space.<\/p>\n

The mural will be rotated throughout the year around several local community organizations and used for future youth conferences and monthly art walks in downtown Fresno.<\/p>\n

The next day we moved the party to Los Angeles\u2019 San Fernando Valley, partnering with Pacoima Beautiful<\/a> and local artist Kristy Sandoval<\/a> for a 15\u2019 x 30\u2019 mural painted outside the city\u2019s Community Center, which houses numerous non-profit youth organizations. This project featured a call to \u201ckeep Pacoima beautiful,\u201d and a bold vision to capture some of the vast solar potential in sunny San Fernando Valley (a recent EDF study<\/a> found that capturing just 5% of the rooftop solar power in the area could create thousands of jobs and reduce carbon emissions by over 200,000 metric tons per year).<\/p>\n

The mural will expand in the future along the Community Center\u2019s outdoor wall to include images calling to mind water conservation and urban greening, and will occupy an anchor spot on the regular Pacoima mural walking tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So why sustainability through art?<\/p>\n

EDF\u2019s Keith Gaby nailed it last month with a blog<\/a> that set a refreshing tone for the environmental movement:<\/p>\n

\n

The reality is that environmentalists often have a difficult time reaching the people with whom we most need to build trust in order to accomplish our goals: Americans who don’t feel a natural kinship with the traditional environmental movement. We need to accept that other people’s priorities — economic or cultural — are valid and important.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Effective environmental policy needs to recognize and prioritize the local and regional needs of communities; part of doing this means communicating policies and values that meet folks where they live, literally. Public art (such as murals) is a special way to facilitate a conversation that anyone can access, a conversation that comes from<\/i> the community, for <\/i>the community.<\/p>\n

In the weeks and months leading up to the mural launches, EDF staff and partners participated in local workshops with community members to discuss climate change, clean energy, and resiliency. Our partners led the conversation and the artists took in feedback about the collective vision, incorporating it into each mural\u2019s design. The end result was something enduring and beautiful, a bold vision for a sustainable future and a rousing call to action to help us get there.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned to EDF to learn more about the official mural launch parties \u2013 including two mini \u201cweb-isodes\u201d \u2013 and more of our ideas on how we plan to jump on the \u201cnext big thing\u201d in sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Today is about making our community more beautiful,\u201d exclaimed State Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), at a recent EDF-sponsored community art show and mural launch complete with live DJ\u2019s, an interactive urban planning workshop, local artists, and youth activists. I know what you might be thinking. \u201cSay what? EDF and art?\u201d This is one of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8898,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,42996,439,84820],"tags":[],"coauthors":[114217],"class_list":["post-12837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california","category-smart-power","category-climate","category-state"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nArt and Sustainability: The Next Big Thing - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/02\/12\/art-and-sustainability-the-next-big-thing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Art and Sustainability: The Next Big Thing - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“Today is about making our community more beautiful,\u201d exclaimed State Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), at a recent EDF-sponsored community art show and mural launch complete with live DJ\u2019s, an interactive urban planning workshop, local artists, and youth activists. 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