Urban Forest Project come to SF
(January 22, 2009)
Mayor Newsom Annouces the Urban Forest Project - An Innovative Public Art Collaboration
Welcomes Compostmodern sustainable design conference to city
02/20/09 - This summer, the streets of San Francisco will be lined with banners designed by leading graphic artists, depicting the urban forest. The Urban Forest Project is a public arts project calling on artists to create powerful visual statements about the environment by using images of trees. It is produced in collaboration with New York-based Worldstudio and the Academy of Art University.
The City is bringing this innovative banner program to San Francisco to raise public awareness around greening and tree planting initiatives and education. Once the banners come down, they will be converted into recycled products by students at the Academy of Art University, to be auctioned off to raise money for local tree planting initiatives and education. The project will rely entirely on corporate and foundation contributions; the Adobe Foundation is already on board as a key sponsor.
"Trees and urban green space are critical to creating and maintaining a sustainable city environment," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. "The Urban Forest Project underscores the interplay between urban nature and our streetscape, and sends the message that caring for our environment is everyone's responsibility."
The Urban Forest Project began in New York City with an installation in Times Square in 2006. After the San Francisco event, organizers plan an international tour for the project. For more information about The Urban Forest project please visit: www.ufp-global.com.
Mayor Newsom also welcomes attendees of the Compostmodern 09 sustainable design conference to San Francisco. Now in its fifth year, the one day event is presented by the San Francisco chapter of American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design. This interdisciplinary conference explores the range of design necessary to create a socially and ecologically responsible society. Designers, manufacturers and business leaders come together to find inspiration, share knowledge and explore real world opportunities for transforming products, industries and lives. The conference will be webcast live.
Compostmodern 09 will be held at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on Saturday, February 21. The event will be webcast live for 90 days, to encourage online participation and satellite events at AIGA chapters and educational institutions everywhere. Speakers include Eames Demetrios of Eames Office, Saul Griffith of Makani Power, Allan Chochinov of Core 77, California College of the Arts (CCA) Design MBA Chair Nathan Shedroff, climate strategist Michel Gelobter, John Bielenberg and Pam Dorr of Project M and the HERO Housing Resource in Alabama, Emily Pilloton of Project H Design, and Autodesk Sustainable Design Program Manager Dawn Danby. GreenBiz editor and sustainability author Joel Makower will reprise his role as emcee. For more information about the Compostmodern 09, please visit: www.compostmodern.org