Climate Art Workshop:
Cambridge Community Center - November 13th:
The main points of the presentation were how art plays a role in informing about climate issues and how art helps with climate anxiety. I found the main points very convincing because I was engaged the whole time for the talk because of the presenters Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye. Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye were very entertaining. The second part of the event was actually doing the climate art. One station was watercolors made with sustainable paint, another was pie graphs that we were supposed to fill with our feelings about the climate, and the last one was making little magazine booklets with information about the climate to help inform people about issues through art. Savannah Holt was very interesting to talk to. Savannah Holt helps run the solar panel garage maintenance and is trying to advocate for more solar panels on the roofs of campus. I really enjoyed talking to Savannah Holt about my ideas for solar panels.
Art is definitely a way I can connect with climate issues. I did find the points of the presentation convincing. But as a person with climate anxiety only part of the art helped me. I got more anxious during the little magazine making and putting your feelings about the climate into a pie chart. So obviously art is not a full proof way of helping with climate anxiety. Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye used the logical fallacy appeal to emotion. Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye told us sad stories of climate change to make us feel like the art helped, but the art didn’t fully help me. It definitely helped a little but the logical fallacy didn’t really work. I felt inspired while doing the watercolors and I made a picture of a bridge with solar panels on top because I was thinking about how trusses would be really good with solar panels and they would be really sustainable and pretty. The watercolors made me really inspired. That was the best part of the whole presentation. I worked on my bridge for longer than Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye wanted us to work on it. I took it with me and worked on it at all three stations. I put my bridge on my fridge and it really makes me feel excited to be an engineer. I wake up and look at a pretty truss bridge every morning. I am making a truss in my statics class and during the presentation I was thinking about how I can help the world with my knowledge about trusses and solving problems. Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye also told us a lot about the sustainability council at UMD and the things the sustainability council offers to help keep UMD a sustainable campus. There are three bio walls on campus and the Sustainability Council are putting in more in the future. There's also garages with solar power roofs that are really neat and good for the environment. Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye offered a Green Terp canvas challenge that sounded really interesting when Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye were presenting about it. I scanned the QR code cuz I was like I want to become a Green Terp. I like helping the environment and Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye really convinced me. Also Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye told us about how there's a sustainability grant for projects that would help UMD become a more sustainable campus. The money comes from our tuition and any student or staff member can apply for a grant for $2,000 or for more money for a project. I think this is a really cool opportunity for people that do have ideas for innovative and sustainable projects that would really help our campus be more sustainable! Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye also told us about opportunities with getting an student internship at the Sustainability Council which seems really neat. I would really like to get involved with that in the future.