Searching for a purpose

2018 was a success on the art front - I was productive, met my goals, and came out a better artist than I started. You can read more about my journey here, but TL:DR, my big realization was I wanted to make art that makes some kind of difference in the world.

Fuzzy connections

I've been thinking a lot about Mad Men and how things that were acceptable in my parents' generation seem appalling now. In one episode, Don Draper whips his empty beer can into a field and Betty shakes all their picnic trash onto the ground before folding up their picnic blanket. I imagine they both light cigarettes as the whole family gets into a car without seatbelts and a drunk Don gets behind the wheel.

Keep America Beautiful

As a child, I learned from the 'Crying Indian' PSA that littering was not only gross, but hurtful. Only I could prevent forest fires. My brain on drugs was a fried egg. Marketing campaigns and public policy worked to change our perceptions about everything from smoking to wearing seatbelts, and an idea started to form at the edges of my mind.

Environmental protection

The Dakota Access Pipeline, flooding in the Carolinas, California wildfires, withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the Green New Deal - there is no doubt climate change has dominated our present and will increasingly be an important issue in the future. How can art/design/marketing create awareness, promote sustainability, make pollution/waste socially unacceptable and support policy changes within our government? My goal for 2019 is to answer that question.

I took a lot of notes to organize my thoughts

Five questions/my almost plan

1.) How can I create art that can be used as an effective message to support climate justice and the organizations that work toward environmental protection? 2.) How can I create art that works to change collective attitudes about climate change, and makes ignorance and apathy socially unacceptable? 3.) How can I create art that informs, creates awareness, promotes sustainability, and encourages political action in regard to environmental issues? 4.) How can I create art that encourages individuals to choose sustainability, reduce waste, and challenge the government when certain options aren't available (i.e. recycling programs, public transportation)? 5.) How can I create art that takes the abstract idea of 'climate change' and show how it concretely affects everyday life in terms of health/wellness, infrastructure, food/water shortages, insect-borne diseases, heat/drought, allergens, etc.?

Cheers to 2019!

It's New Year's Eve and I'm sending my intentions out into the universe. Cheers to the coming year and I wish you success in your own creative endeavors - Jess