SHEI Vert: Art For A Sustainable World

Posted by Rhiannon Haller on 3/03/10 • Categorized as Design,Pop Culture

Art and activism tend to go hand in hand, as the former is an effective medium for spreading a message due to its ability to transcend the barriers of language and culture. The movement for a more sustainable lifestyle often finds itself examined in the art world, and here in Ann Arbor, an annual exhibition showcases works of art that do just that.

For the past few years, an event called “Dream Seeding for Compassionate Communities” has been held on the first floor of the Michigan Union. It’s different from your average exhibition in a few ways. For one thing, it’s organized at the grassroots level, and not by curators at a gallery or museum. Dream Seeding is led by a couple of regular guys – Chris Bednash, an artist and clerk at Crazy Wisdom and the Ann Arbor Downtown Library, and the other is Jeff Tenza, an “electrical engineer turned organic farmer, designer, and writer.” There’s a website, http://www.dreamseeding.org, and the majority of the outreach and publicity is done through e-mail and snail mail.

Another key difference between Dream Seeding and other exhibitions lies in the type of people whose work is exhibited. It’s an all ages art show, so you’ll see work from elementary school kids created in art class as well as work by older, professional artists. All mediums are accepted, so expect see a range of art from sculptures to paintings.

The most important aspect of Dream Seeding, however, is its purpose.

Dream Seeding for a Better World is a spontaneous attempt to reach out across time and space to find glimpses of another, more compassionate way of life and to share them with others. Fundamental systemic change is needed, although we need to dream up a new reality in order to bring it forth. Dispatches from the forefront of change and the wild ideas of artists can help us to see that another world is indeed possible. Dream Seeding seeks to spread the seeds of a more humane culture, in harmony with the living planet, a bit wider into the “collective consciousness.”

From: http://dreamseeding.org/art/about-us/

You can check out Dream Seeding this month at the Michigan Union from March 2 to March 26. A reception featuring food, storytelling and music will be held on Saturday, March 20 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.