NRDC Partners with Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative at EXPO CHICAGO to Highlight the Urgency and Intersectionality of the Climate Crisis

CHICAGO — NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative will showcase the work of over 30 artists in an outdoor mural installation with live screen-printing at EXPO CHICAGO from April 7-10. This partnership will harness the power of art to spotlight key environmental issues facing communities, including: climate change, biodiversity, fossil fuels, safe drinking water, and environmental justice. By partnering with a justice-based, worker-owned artist cooperative at Chicago’s largest commercial art fair, the collaboration will ask visitors to think critically about the role that art plays in disrupting normative systems that perpetuate injustice, and inequality.

“We’re excited to work with this incredible group of socially, politically and environmentally engaged artists,” said Elizabeth Corr, Associate Director of Arts & Cultural Partnerships at NRDC. “EXPO takes place during Earth Month this year and we hope our collaboration will motivate viewers to think critically about the impacts of climate change and to recognize the vital role artists and culture makers play in creating lasting social change.” 

“Art allows us to connect with crucial struggles happening in our communities and around the world, while also illuminating collective future possibilities," said Andrea Narno, a member of Justseeds Artists' Cooperative. “We are hoping that the variety of artists' visions showcased in this collaboration will help encourage EXPO visitors to view our fast changing world with a critical eye and motivate them to take action.”

“We are thrilled to be back at Navy Pier for our 9th iteration of EXPO and that NRDC will be returning as a special exhibitions partner,” said Tony Karman, President | Director of EXPO CHICAGO. “I know our visitors will be inspired by the diverse perspectives represented by the Justseeds Artists and their inspiring work calling for urgent climate action.”  

The dynamic installation will evolve daily, featuring new works, as well as selections from Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative robust archive of protest prints and ephemera. Newly commissioned work from Justseeds Artists’ include: William Estrada, Molly Fair, Sarah Farahat, Aaron Hughes, Sanya Hyland, Andrea Narno, Roger Peet, Pete Railand, Erik Ruin and Monica Trinidad, as well as local allies Carlos Barberena, Kahari Black, and Grae Rosa.

The interactive installation will be located at Navy Pier (Entry 2 turnabout) just east of the Sable Hotel entrance.


About NRDC
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at http://www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

About Justseeds Artists Cooperative 
With members working from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, Justseeds operates both as a unified collaboration of similarly minded printmakers and as a loose collection of creative individuals with unique viewpoints and working methods. We believe in the transformative power of personal expression in concert with collective action. To this end, we produce collective portfolios, contribute graphics to grassroots struggles for justice, work collaboratively both in- and outside the co-op, build large sculptural installations in galleries, and wheatpaste on the streets—all while offering each other daily support as allies and friends.

About EXPO CHICAGO
EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art features leading international galleries alongside a leading platform for contemporary art and cultural programming. Hosted within historic Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, EXPO CHICAGO presents a diverse and inventive program, including /Dialogues (presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) and Exchange by Northern Trust:  An Interactive Conversation Around the Art of Collecting, unrivaled programs for both public and VIP audiences; IN/SITU, dynamic on-site installations highlighting large-scale sculpture, film, and site-specific work; and major public art initiatives, including IN/SITU Outside, with works installed throughout Chicago Park District locations, and OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project, a curated selection of international artists throughout the city’s digital billboard network. The EXPO CHICAGO program also features an unprecedented commitment to host curatorial initiatives during the exposition, including the Curatorial Forum in partnership with Independent Curators International (ICI), and the Curatorial Exchange, which partners with foreign agencies and consulates to expand the exposition’s global reach. EXPO CHICAGO is the publisher of THE SEEN, Chicago’s only international journal of contemporary and modern art criticism, distributed throughout the United States and Europe.

EXPO CHICAGO is presented by Art Expositions, LLC. Under the leadership of President and Director Tony Karman, EXPO CHICAGO draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while highlighting the region’s contemporary arts community and inspiring its collector base. For more information on EXPO CHICAGO visit expochicago.com

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