Thanks to Mary, Breaking Ground's passionate-for-sustainability-President, for informing me of the Cool Globes Project happening in Chicago over the next few months. I think Jacksonville is the perfect location for something like this:
- From June-September 2007, the City of Chicago is
hosting “CoolGlobes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet,” an innovative project that
uses the medium of public art to inspire individuals and organizations to take
action against global warming.
The exhibit features over 100 painted
globes, each five feet in diameter, displayed along
Chicago’s lakefront from The Field Museum north and at Navy Pier. Artists from
around the world, including Jim Dine, Yair Engel, Tom Van Sant and Juame Plensa,
designed the globes, using a variety of materials to transform their plain white
sphere to create awareness and provoke discussion about potential solutions to
global warming.
Leading by example, CoolGlobes is a carbon neutral
project. To offset the carbon emitted from the
energy needed to create and maintain the exhibit and related events, CoolGlobes
has developed a diversified strategy that includes donated “green tags”
(renewable energy certificates), investments to plant trees and foster
environmentally friendly agricultural practices, and in-kind donations from
alternative energy companies.
CoolGlobes was launched in Chicago because of the
City’s leadership and dedication to promoting environmentally sound policies.
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s goal is to make our city the greenest in the
nation through the promotion of environmental programs and practices, including
a bike initiative, adding hybrid buses to the city’s mass transit system, and
building “green” libraries, public schools and police stations. Mayor Daley is
serving as honorary co-chair of the CoolGlobes project.
CoolGlobes also features 200 mini-globes displayed
around the city throughout the summer; again, each mini-globe depicts a solution
to global warming. Mini-globes were designed by some of the same artists who are
working on the full-size globes, as well as by celebrities, including actor
Chris O’Donnell, U.S. Senator Barack Obama and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
Students participating in Chicago’s After School Matters Gallery 37 after-school
arts program for teens designed 40 of the mini-globes.
The CoolGlobes project has been underwritten by a
variety of corporate and individual sponsors, including Exelon, Pepsi, Medline, Abbott, Toyota and
Hyatt.
FOCUSING ON SOLUTIONS
The popularity of Al Gore’s documentary “An
Inconvenient Truth” has led to growing public concern about the issue of global
warming. CoolGlobes leverages this heightened awareness by using the medium of
public art to unite corporate, government and nonprofit organizations in issuing
a call-to-action to encourage changes in day-to-day lifestyle and business
operations that will reduce adverse environmental impact.
Throughout the summer, Chicagoans and other exhibit
visitors will be challenged to implement five changes in their daily lives or
business operations to combat global warming. Pledges can be made at the CoolGlobes and Chicago
Sun-Times Web sites. At the end of the summer, a
raffle will be held to award a Toyota Prius to one of the pledge
participants.
Jacksonville already has so much in place to promote something like this... First Wednesday ArtWalk... Museums like MOCA... Tony? Heather? Any ideas on how we can make this happen?
How about our business owners that promote sustainability? Sponsorship opportunities?
To learn more about it and spark ideas on how we can do it, visit their website at CoolGlobes.org.
