Majors: Arts Management and Business
Hometown: Shawnee, Kansas
Favorite LC Event: Chicago Trip
You know you’re traveling with SUSTAINS when the only restaurant that can accommodate all the vegetarians and vegans on the road trip is a Chipotle in rural Indiana.
Over Fall Break, the SUSTAINS Learning Community traveled to Chicago for our annual professional development trip. We visited businesses and nonprofits dedicated to sustainability. I don’t study environmental issues in my regular coursework, but I know sustainability is critical for all of us. As an arts management and business double major, I was fascinated by our experience.
At TESTA Produce, we toured one of the first LEED certified commercial buildings in Chicago and spoke candidly with CEO Peter Testa. We met with employees of Invenergy, a developer of sustainable energy projects, and discussed the challenges of maintaining complex networks of wind, solar, and natural gas facilities across the country.
We toured a high-end office building owned by Tishman Speyer, the commercial real estate management firm. After learning about sustainability initiatives in the massive property, from the trash room to the air filters, our guide showed us to the roof. The remarkable view of Chicago gave a compelling (and beautiful) perspective to our conversations about sustainability.
We met with the CEO of the Great Lakes Alliance and discussed the legislative fight against microbeads and the challenge of replicating this success. The unique advocacy needs of the Great Lakes were fascinating.
We visited the Plant Chicago, a fascinating nonprofit in an old industrial building that includes a bakery, a coffee shop, an outdoor garden, an aquaponic system, and a brewery in an innovative and sustainable food production loop. The spirit of the Plant reminded me of similar artist collectives, best demonstrated by the compelling, collaborative work of artists in Franklinton and elsewhere in Columbus.
During our time in Chicago, I accompanied one of my dearest friends from high school, Gabi, who attends University of Chicago, for a Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance. During the mind-blowing finale of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (seriously listen to it– if you are indifferent about classical music, this piece will turn you into an avid fan), I experienced that familiar sense of wonder that first interested me in the arts. This triumphant piece of music has been performed and shared for generations. Art and sustainability, to me, are inseparable. They both aspire to preserve and protect. Art and sustainability are hopeful about the possibilities of humanity. They are fiercely committed to progress for future generations.
I am grateful for the eye-opening opportunity to travel to Chicago and engage with a variety of professionals through SUSTAINS. Wherever I end up in the arts world, sustainability will be a non-negotiable part of my work.