Dept. of Fine Arts: Lori Rae Beck, Sustainability and Art

Dept. Of Fine Arts

Sustainability and Art

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Schneider Hall, Rm. 17

Lori Rae Beck, Program Director, Glassworks

What is sustainabilty and how does it relate to art?  Like nature, art has survived, evolving along with man since 20,000 B.C., repsonding to shifts ifn cultural, economic, and environmental conditions.  From pre-historic cave paintings created for ritualistic and communicative purposes, to academic painting and sculpture during the enlightenment aimed to teach or instruct morality, art through history has proven to reflect the societal and cultural needs and conditions of its environment.

The sustainabilty of art throughout its histroy can be better understood by examining the particular conditions through which it has evolved andalso, how it continues to do so.  Regardless of the fluid and ever-changeing conditions in which it finds itself, art is reflective of its audience and determines its sustainability by offering value, meaning, and purpose to the general community.