Artists Unite for a Green New Deal
Calling all people working creatively for a more just existence on this planet!
What is the Green New Deal? How will it address the climate crisis? What are creative ways to get involved? As artists, educators, cultural workers, and community leaders, it’s our job to envision the more just world we know is possible—and to invite others to help bring it into being. Use these resources from the USDAC to get started!
Art by Suzy González
The Green New Deal is an ambitious proposal rooted in a broad vision of social, economic, and racial equity. It turns the climate emergency into an opportunity to revitalize our own society and infrastructure, build the foundation of true sustainability, and address longstanding inequalities. This toolkit unpacks the science and policy behind the Green New Deal and offers creative pathways for bringing it into being. It is written in the form of a slideshow, so that you can use and remix it. We invite you to use any part of this slideshow in a classroom, community organization, or among friends for shared learning and creative activation. Study up and take action!
Summer 2019 Call Series: Recordings, Summaries, and Documentation
During the summer of 2019, the USDAC hosted an online call series for anyone looking to get informed, inspired, connected, and creatively engaged in tackling the climate crisis through a Green New Deal. Check out all of the documentation from our three-part series of calls with artists, organizers, and thinkers to unpack the policy and science behind a Green New Deal, and to co-create cultural strategy for climate justice.
Call 1: Explaining Policy, Exploring Poetics
Thursday, August 8th — 8PM EST / 5PM PST
Detail from Emily Simon’s live graphic doodle from Call #1.
[READ THE CALL #1 SUMMARY HERE.]
How do healthcare and jobs help fight climate change? How does addressing climate change upend inequality and deliver justice in our time? The Green New Deal is a proposal for a decade of legislation that takes on many of the interlocking crisis of our time. It’s ambitious and complicated—but as artists it’s our job to see and help activate its inspirational potential.
On this call we’ll de-wonkify some of the policy concepts of a Green New Deal and celebrate our role as artists to find the poetry in the policy. How can we help our communities see the artistry amidst all the details, and invite the public to dream and fight for the policies that deliver climate justice for all?
Guest Presenters:
Molly Crabapple, Artist & Illustrator of “A Message from the Future”
Pablo Akira Beimer, Climate Reality Project
Priya Mulgaonkar, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
Rajiv Sicora, The Leap
Click here to read a summary of Call #1
Want to access the call recording, speaker presentations (including the Briefing Document from the USDAC's Bureau of Energy, Power, and Art!), and the full graphic doodle from the call? Just click the button below and we’ll email you the Call #1 Recap Bundle!
Call 2: Science Facts & Science Fictions
Thursday, August 22nd — 8PM EST / 5PM PST
Detail from Emily Simon’s live graphic doodle from Call #2.
[READ THE CALL #2 SUMMARY HERE.]
What will happen if we don’t take action on climate change? The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report presents different visions of the future depending on the action and policies that we take. These visions range from an equitable utopia to a fascist dystopia. Join us to learn about the science behind climate change predictions, and to hear stories of creative leaders who imagine with their hands, creating the best case scenarios for a just climate future through their visions and community work.
Guest Presenters:
Kali Akuno, Cooperation Jackson
Demetrius Johnson, The Red Nation
Ananda Lee Tan, Climate Justice Alliance
Carrie Marie Schneider, Artist
Click here to read a summary of Call #2
Want to access the call recording, speaker presentations (including the Briefing Document from the USDAC's Bureau of Energy, Power, and Art!), and the full graphic doodle from the call? Just click the button below and we’ll email you the Call #2 Recap Bundle!
Call 3: Building Strategy and Co-creating Culture
Thursday, September 5th — 8PM EST / 5PM PST
Artists are the storytellers, visionaries, and the heart of our movements for change. You’ve learned about the nuts and bolts of a Green New Deal: now it’s time to strategize about how we can all be a part of making it real. On this call, we’ll hear from movement organizers and arts and cultural workers who are rolling up their sleeves to make the Green New Deal a reality. Then, we’ll share opportunities to plug into next steps with the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture and other partners.
Guest Presenters:
Ronee Penoi and Tara Moses, Groundwater Arts
Josh Yoder, artist and illustrator with Sunrise Movement
Click here to read a summary of Call #3
Want to access the call recording, speaker presentations (including the Briefing Document from the USDAC's Bureau of Energy, Power, and Art!), and the full graphic doodle from the call? Sign up below and we’ll email you the Call #3 Recap Bundle!