Polar Bears

I have this image in my mind of polar bears, lots of them, floating on the Arctic Ocean, each on their own personal ice floe and wondering at the warmth as their ice floes get smaller and smaller and finally disappear, leaving them swimming in search of land. This image is both absurd and quite moving to me. The absurdity of the image exists in tension with the reality of our time. And what can art do about it anyway?
Well, as it happens, artists have also been placing their energies on environmental concerns for a awhile. In fact, artists have been well ahead of the curve in this regard with the eco-arts movement being around since the 1960s. The role of art in sustainability isn’t trivial.
Much of the following has been pulled off the Creative Cities Network of Canada website. Check it out. (http://www.creativecity.ca/index.html)
Some artists find inspiration from the environment, while others use art to tackle critical environmental issues. In recent years, relationships between artists and environmentalists have grown stronger, and there has been an increase of creative projects and educational programs.
Eco-arts projects are often collaborations initiated by artists, environmental groups, local musicians, or communities, and they tend to be connected to local concerns over pollution and other specific environmental issues. Artists who are engaged in cultural sustainability often see their creative projects as an environmental practice.
Cultural sustainability, supported by the eco-arts movement, includes the following:
· Retaining and preserving heritage buildings
· Supporting ecologically sustainable art products and services
· Promoting environment-friendly craft products
· Using under-utilized space for arts activity
· Disseminating information on environmental sustainability through arts activities
· Protecting Canadian green space and parks
· Informing community residents about environmental issues and problems facing the globe through art
There are people out there who think that all artists do is hide in their room making stuff. Well ok, some of them do. But an awful lot of them are out there doing whatever it is they do to make things better.
And some of us are thinking about polar bears…