One of the primary goals outlined in the Illinois Climate Action Plan is to enhance the culture of sustainability on campus ensuring that education and outreach initiatives are accessible and visible to all students, faculty, staff, community member and visitor. One way to make this culture visible is through artistic and design expressions. This can be through the fine arts including upcycling of materials into art work and landscape design. The only limitation is one’s creativity.  Sustainable art can be focused on education of the public and reuse of existing and discarded materials. Creating and presenting the work encourages both the creator and the viewers to think critically about their own roles in climate change, and how they perceive issues and steps to making a difference. 

Artistic expressions are symbols of their time evoking memories, feelings, and reflections for the events and concerns for the moment in which they are produced. They can be developed to assist in education and inspire action related to the topics of sustainability and climate change. Examples include fine artists using found objects that are part of the detritus of modern society. The materials can often range from glass, silk and plastic florals, to old toys and plastics that wash up on beaches, to metal bottle caps and discarded chrome plated auto parts. Anything that has been created to support human life may be able to be re-used. Each piece or installation from various artists highlights environmental issues in unique, memorable, and thought-provoking ways, sparking conversations that can lead to change.

On the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, there art installations on campus are required to have advance approval. Please refer to the Campus Administrative Manual (CAM) (https://cam.illinois.edu/policies/fo-09/). For additional information, please contact Architectural Review Committee, FSARC@mx.uillinois.edu.