SoFA addresses climate change

Learning about climate change goes beyond the lecture hall and becomes visual as the School of Fine Arts Gallery opens the Canary Project: Works on Climate Change 2006-2009.

The exhibit opens Friday at 5:30 p.m. with a lecture by Canary Project co-founders Edward Morris and Susannah Sayler in room 251 of the Radio and TV building and will be followed by the opening reception from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the SoFA Gallery. The exhibit will run through Oct. 9 at the SoFA Gallery.

“It’s a show made for Indiana University. This isn’t a traveling exhibit,” Morris said.
The Canary Project, a New York-based organization, works to address the issue of climate change through the use of art in a variety of forms.

The SoFA Gallery exhibit will employ the work of more than a dozen Canary Project artists, including the co-founders themselves. Pieces from various collections, including ones from the Mathers Museum and Lilly Library, are a part of the exhibit.

“This exhibit is a collection of new and old work we have configured,” Morris said. “It’s our work and work we’ve produced.”

The reception is free and open to the public and will feature an interactive piece by Joshua Kit Clayton entitled “Focus Soften Circles.” Gallery viewers can take part in a survey and in a focus group through the piece, if they choose. 

Morris and Sayler said they hope this interaction helps gallery viewers feel they are part of the exhibit and will inspire them to take action.

“Students, and really anyone, can be activists in different ways,” Sayler said. “Your voice can be heard, and you can have an impact on your world. You don’t need to run for president.”

Morris and Sayler started the Canary Project in the summer of 2005 when they read a series of articles on climate change written by Elizabeth Kolbert.

“The articles were articulate about why climate change had not been given a lot of consideration,” Morris said. “That woke us up a bit.”

This newfound interest turned into what they called a “life-changing mission.”
Sayler took photographs of landscapes around the world that were affected by climate change.

These photos are the foundation of the organization and will be displayed with the SoFA Gallery exhibit.

Other pieces to expect include posters, audio and video pieces, clothing, installation pieces and more. 

SoFA Gallery Director Betsy Stirratt said each aspect of the project is different but are all vital to addressing climate change.

“They give the viewer different ideas and an emotional response, more of an emotional response than a document would,” she said.

Two other lectures are also in conjunction with the exhibit.

Fritz Haeg will give a lecture entitled “Welcoming the Wild” at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 18 in room 015 of the Fine Arts building. William L. Fox’s lecture “Art, the Anthropocene, and Global Change,” will be at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in Woodburn Hall room 101.  
“Many have heard it all about climate change, but the perspective we’re giving is different,” Morris said. “You don’t have to be a tree hugger to get involved. But we welcome tree huggers too.”