Arts and Culture

A sustainable lifestyle can be expressed in many aspects of your life—including art. That may mean direct involvement—creating art or performing—or appreciating the work of those who do.

The Living Green Expo celebrates diversity, culture, and the importance of arts in strengthening the community.

Thinking about arts and culture

Living a more sustainable lifestyle is possible for anyone, and this can be expressed in many aspects of your life - including art. Involvement with arts can be thought of as creating musical and art projects, cooking, watching performances, and performing yourself! Art can be both a solitary venture, or something that you share with others. Participating in art can be both a creative activity or a more passive venture through viewing art or purchasing it. There are many ways to do each of these things in a more sustainable manner.

According to Dictionary.com, culture is "the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought." So, while culture includes arts, it extends far beyond this. In a way, your attendance and involvement with the Living Green Expo is one way in which a more sustainable culture can be built. Every action taken toward making your lifestyle or community more sustainable can help to build a more sustainable culture.

Ten Things You Can Do

1. Support local musicians, actors, and artists by buying their products and by attending their performances or exhibitions. See the wide range of Minnesota Arts organizations to learn more about Minnesota's vibrant art and cultural scene.
2. Work with your neighbors to beautify your local community, and to create common spaces that build local culture - such as is being done in Portland, Oregon. See The Creative City to learn more about how art and culture can increase community livability.
3. Try integrating reused materials into your own art projects. Learn about Art Start and Art Scraps. You can also donate discards and scrap to Art Scraps for their own reuse.
4. Learn about sustainability-focused artists like Richard Bresnahan at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn. Consider the environment in your own art and try to use locally available and environmentally friendly materials (such as dyes, clays, and yarns) for your creative projects.
5. Explore local cuisine and use locally grown products when doing culinary arts. Visit Minnesota Grown to learn how to find Minnesota grown foods.
   
6. When attending concerts or art shows, invite a friend or neighbor to go along. This can make the event more fun, and also save on pollution and car mileage versus everyone attending on their own. Or walk, bike or take public transportation to avoid driving entirely.
7. Bring arts to those who may not be able to otherwise enjoy them - such as those in a nursing or rehabilitation center, correctional institution, homeless shelter, or senior housing. Investigate the wide range of social service agencies serving those in need.
8. Tell your family and friends about the Living Green Expo and encourage them to attend! This is one fun way in which you can help to create a more sustainable culture (see www.livinggreen.org ).
   
9. Learning about those who are different from you is another way to build a more sustainable culture. The idea of sustainability includes concepts of fairness and inclusivity. Visit the state Legislature's Links to the World, a wide variety of links celebrating diversity.
   
10. Get involved in supporting those activities that will strengthen your community for the long term, and which will help to create a more sustainable future. You can learn about Twin Cities volunteer opportunities in many areas by visting the web site of Hands On Twin Cities.