Search CITT/ICTS

All hours are Central Standard Time (CST)

Sustainable Arts
A New Pathway to Creation Using Greener Practices

Roundtable Discussion

A roundtable (relaxed) discussion about the importance of sustainability in theatre practice by supporting artists and organizations with eco-conscious initiatives and values within the performing arts community. This discussion will draw on work that is already being practiced across Canada and provide space for those that wish to engage in sustainability but are unsure of where to start. The goal is to raise awareness about our role as caretakers of this land through the integration of sustainable production across the performing arts. What does it mean to work greener? We will ask questions about how we can reduce our collective carbon footprint, support artistic innovations, and build new ways of creation that are healthier to the artist and the environment in which they work.

After attending this presentation, attendees will be able to will be able to consider new ways of working that will not cause further harm to environment, themselves and/or their colleagues. They will be made aware of potential obstacles that prevent working sustainably and find new innovative ways around this. We hope that attendees will leave the session at least considering small steps they can take and consider when they are in new spaces ways to implement how they work by setting a value system for themselves. For example, an attendee may leave the session and understand the impact of what styrofoam is doing to the environment and make a personal pledge to not use it and find an alternative.

Attendees will also be made aware of the steps being taken in the Saskatoon community through a research project between Usask Drama and the City of Saskatoon to share resources and to work more sustainably. An article on the work already being done can be found here: https://news.usask.ca/media-release-pages/2024/usask-city-of-saskatoon-researching-sustainable-theatre-strategies.php.

Presenters: Carla Orosz, Ken MacKenzie and Andrew Denton, PhD.

Carla Orosz (she/her) has been a scenographer since 2006 when she completed an MFA in Theatre Design at the University of Victoria. She is a S.A.T award-winning designer and most recently awarded for Leadership in the Saskatoon theatre community. Carla is an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan.

Kenneth MacKenzie (he/him) is an award-winning set, lighting, costume, and video designer having worked across Canada, the United States and Europe. He has presented on Ecoscenography as a design practice and is a member of the PACT environmental stewardship committee. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan.

Andrew Denton has a transdisciplinary creative practice engaging with the topic of ecological emergency. He engages with affective cinematic, photographic, and aural aesthetics that distort and recalibrate viewers' experience of time and space. His work aims to evoke a space of contemplation, uneasiness, and sadness, engaging with the residual and stratified signs of our collective impact on our environment.