For those who constantly wonder how they can do more for the environment and the global warming crisis, one exhibit has the answer.
The Sustainability Art Exhibit, put on by the environmentally-conscious Focus the Nation (FTN) event, allows artists and FTN members to show off how they help the environment. The exhibit, on display in the University Union until Jan. 31, presents work by four students who drew inspiration from different aspects of the theme in order to promote sustainability.
“Sustainability encompasses a variety of different issues,” said industrial engineering senior Erica Janoff, whose sunflower painting reflects the need to return to nature.
Business junior Ben Eckold, who contributed a painting of the FTN logo, said his work shows that people have a choice.
“Our generation – we’re at a crucial crossroads. We can choose to do the status quo, or we can choose to make an impact,” he said.
Graphic design senior Sara LeGrady explained that doing little things like recycling and carpooling add up.
“I just wanted to represent the fact that I practice environment sustainability anyway,” she said. The Wheelchair Foundation asked LeGrady to donate artwork to the exhibit. She drew her own interpretation of Mother Nature, the second in a series of three.
“The way I define sustainability is being able to meet the needs of today without compromising the needs of the future,” said industrial engineering senior Chad Worth, chair of the FTN organization committee and president of Empower Poly Coalition, which sponsors FTN events.
On Jan. 31, Cal Poly (and over 1,400 other colleges and universities) will participate in FTN: Global Warming Solutions for America, a day-long event that aims to make climate change a “make or break issue” for presidential candidates in the 2008 election, Worth explained.
The exhibit opened Jan. 9, and artists and FTN members handed out organic cotton T-shirts with FTN logos to students in an attempt to launch the national organization at the Cal Poly level.
“We ended up having a lot of people come,” LeGrady said. “We ran out of shirts; we ran out of food.”
The artists like Eckold hope students learn more about the environment from the art exhibit and ask questions.
“I think that’s a very important thing to do, to question society and their own mindsets,” he said.