Working Sustainably - Art + Environment

You can view the recording of the event below:

With growing momentum across the cultural sector to address the climate emergency, artists play a leading voice in communicating the urgency of the crisis and the need for radical action. But what is the role of institutions in initiating and supporting this change?

In this event we explored this question with David Buckland, Founding Director of Cape Farewell, and Rosie Cooper, Director at Wysing Arts Centre and and Chair, Isabel de Vasconcellos, Director of Sculpture for Messums Wiltshire.

They discussed the importance of engaging artists their programmes, the role artists have in educating audiences and the road to implementing changes in practice that move us towards a decarbonised future.

Operating at the intersection of art and science, collaboration is at the heart of the Cape Farewell programme. The organisation was founded by David Buckland in 2001 with a mission to convey the urgency of climate change with simplicity and directness. How has the political and cultural landscape on climate issues changed since its launch? And what will the legacy of organisations like Cape Farewell be?

After so long working with a global focus, in the light of the climate emergency, many arts organisations are looking to bring a more local focus to their programming. Having joined Wysing Arts Centre in 2021 as Director, Rosie Cooper shared her vision for the future of and details of their newly launched environmental strategy.

About the speakers

David Buckland

David Buckland is an artist, film-maker and the founder/director of Cape Farewell. Launched in 2001, the Cape Farewell project brings together artists, and educators together to collectively address and raise awareness about climate change. David has documented the programme in two films, Art From The Arctic (BBC) and Burning Ice (Sundance).

David’s lens-based works have been exhibited in numerous galleries in London, Paris and New York and collected by the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, the Metropolitan Museum, New York and the Getty Collection, Los Angeles amongst others.

Rosie Cooper

Rosie joined Wysing Arts Centre in rural Cambridgeshire as director in September 2021. In addition to its exhibition programme, the ten acre site is known for its established residency programme, working with artists from around the globe.

Rosie has a strong record of championing art as a tool for social change. She was previously Head of Exhibitions at De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, and Head of programmes at Liverpool Biennial.

Isabel de Vasconcellos (Chair)

Isabel is a curator, writer, cultural producer and Director of Sculpture for Messums Wiltshire. She has over 20 years experience working with some of the world’s top artists, galleries and museums. She spent nine years working closely with Sir Antony Gormley, following which she set up her own consultancy.

She has written on sculpture, painting, conceptual art, photography and design and her book Fourth Plinth: How London Created the Smallest Sculpture Park in the Worlds tells the story of the most innovative and controversial public art programme of our time.