Five Days Until the Summit!

Today we had the walk-through meeting in preparation for the first National Arts and Environment Summit on Monday. We are ready, maybe a tiny bit stressed, but ready nonetheless. Needless to say, everyone is enthusiastic and feeling positive about the experience. Green is good!

While Sunday’s events with the “Green Spot” and Hootie & the Blowfish concert will surely be engaging and lively, Monday is when the Summit leaders get down to business.

Over 20 of the nation’s foremost environmental and arts experts, along with government, community, and business leaders, will convene at Booz Allen’s headquarters to outline a list of strategies and practical solutions for fully engaging the performing arts world in environmental stewardship.

There are some heavy hitters coming in and I look forward to hearing what new ideas and solutions they have to encourage artists to green their practices. Of course throughout this process we want to hear from you. Share your ideas or simply let us know what you think. BTW, you can hear the results on Monday via webinar at 4:00 EDT. Space is limited and registration is required.

Below is the initial list of attendees...

Eric Friedenwald-Fishman, Facilitator
Creative Director/President, Metropolitan Group

Claire Alexander
VP of Operations and Interactive Media, Discovery Communications LLC, Planet Green

Brian Allenby
Manager, Operations & Education, Reverb

Sam Bower
Executive Director, greenmuseum.org

Kateri Callahan
President, Alliance to Save Energy

Rose Ann Cleveland
Executive Director, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation

Matthew Cooper
President, PEG Environmental Engineering

Philippe Cousteau
CEO, EarthEcho International

Ellis Finger
Director, Williams Center for the Arts

Michael Hughes
Senior VP/General Manager, CBS Radio

Terre Jones, Host
CEO/President, Wolf Trap Foundation

Sudhakar Kevasan
Chairman/CEO, ICF International

Marda Kirn
Founder/Executive Director, EcoArts

Scott Kratz
Vice President for Education, National Building Museum

Elizabeth Lowery
Vice President, Environment, Energy, & Safety Policy, General Motors Corporation

Robert Lynch, Host
CEO/President, Americans for the Arts

Kathy Mattea
Artist

Hon. Norman Mineta, Host
Chairman, Wolf Trap National Advisory Council on the Arts and Environment

Shawn Norton
Environmental Leadership Program Manager, National Park Service

Damien Pwono
Executive Director, Global Initiative on Arts, Culture, and Society, The Aspen Institute

Michael Singer
Artist

Patrick Spears
Co-Founder/President, Intertribal Council on Utility Policy (COUP)

Hon. Robert Stanton
Immediate Past Director, National Park Service

Lydia Thomas
Former President and CEO, Noblis

Chris Velasco
President, PLACE (Projects Linking Art, Community & Environment)

Jess Wendover
Director, Mayors’ Institute on City Design

Daniel Windham
Director of Arts, Wallace Foundation

Kulapat Yantrasast
Creative Director, wHY Architecture

PS – What is summer without Wolf Trap? It is a beautiful oasis that takes you miles away from the rushing around in the world. As you can see from the list above, there are many representatives committed to reducing carbon footprints and promoting environmental sustainability. I applaud Wolf Trap for bringing them all together.