Looking back at Common Field Online Convening: Panel - Art & Environmentalism from the Frontline

On April 24, 2020 Locust Projects participated in Common Field Online Convening, this year’s Convening programs explored progressive strategies for racial, economic and environmental justice in the arts, as well as stronger and more accessible infrastructures for community building and creative practice, the entire 2020 Convening Archive is now available on CommonField.org!

Locust Projects organized a panel titled, Art & Environmentalism from the Frontline, moderated by Locust Projects’ WaveMaker Grants coordinator Monica Peña and featuring three Miami-based artists making waves through environmental activism: Franky Cruz, Cara Despain, and Misael Soto.

Up first, Misael Soto spoke about his experience and projects during his Miami Beach Artist Residency and how it led him to create the Department of Reflection, a post-governmental agency that collaborates internally with municipal departments to push and interrogate the direction of their work for the community.

Next, Cycle 2 WaveMaker grantee, Cara Despain, showed the audience an array of her works in film and video, sculpture, photography and installation to demonstrate how she deals with issues of land use, the desert, climate change, land ownership and the problematics of the American west.

To end the round of presentations, Cycle 5 WaveMaker grantee, Franky Cruz, talked about his practice at The Vivarium Meconium Laboratory (VML), a butterfly rearing and painting lab where the artist raises butterflies to create abstract paintings and performances. To provide further context he showed the audience a video of his 2017 exhibition at Locust Projects Vivarium Meconium.

“Look at what’s happening during this pandemic,” Despain says. “The sky is blue, the water is clear … change is possible.” Continuing the optimistic tone, Soto says, “People are suddenly engaged, because it’s a matter of survival, and they’re looking for something better. Artists can lead in presenting alternatives.” - from Hyperallergic’s live coverage of the panel by Hakim Bishara

The artists’ presentations were followed by a Q&A session moderated by WaveMaker Grants coordinator Monica Peña.

Watch the full panel in the video below and check out more of the amazing sessions from the convening here.

Art & Environmental Activism from the Frontline Friday, April 24, 2020 3-4:30pm CDT with Cara Despain (Miami, FL), Franky Cruz (Miami, FL), Misael Soto (Miami, FL), Monica Peña (Miami, FL) Miami is among the first cities threatened by climate change and other environmental issues, so it is no surprise that Miami’s artists are increasingly engaging with both real and existential threats, using art as a catalyst to inspire activism and build a sense of urgency for dialogue with the public, scientists, developers, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Moderated by Monica Peña, who oversees WaveMaker Grants at Locust Projects, Miami’s longest-running alternative art space, this panel features three Miami-based artists making waves through environmental activism: Franky Cruz, Cara Despain, and Misael Soto. Learn from an experimental butterfly rearing and painting laboratory, public soundscapes that evoke the vulnerability of a city surrounded by the sea, and a post-governmental intermediary that serves as a platform for healthy public critique. Working at the intersection of art and the environment, these artists inspire citizen advocacy using approaches that can be adapted to your own community. In the spirit of creative adaptation and responsiveness, the artists will also draw insight from their past work that may be relevant to the current challenges facing us due to COVID-19. *** ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: • Franky Cruz: Butterfly Sweat, edited by Peter Vauughan (Google Drive): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RzN8dNmQ_ml1qp7h-ZxT2xeJdRiPC1SN/view?usp=sharing • Franky Cruz: Vivarium Meconium Laboratory, edited by Chop 'Em Up Films (Google Drive): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4ZpQifwBeIT3RAcH6NKaUo6K4beIJKV/view?usp=sharing