Art faculty receive SUNY RF funding for sustainability collaboration

Andrea Frank, assistant professor and director of the photography program in the SUNY New Paltz Department of Art, has received a SUNY Research Foundation (RF) Network of Excellence grant that will support a small team of investigators as they undertake an interdisciplinary consideration of possibilities in sustainable town and city design.

The project includes co-PIs Emily Puthoff, associate professor of art at New Paltz, Jeffrey Freedman of the University at Albany and Joyce Hwang of the University at Buffalo.

These researchers bring expertise in the arts, renewable energy and climate science and architecture, respectively, to this collaborative project, which proposes to work with the Town of New Paltz and broader SUNY networks to develop innovative, sustainable systems and projects that could be implemented here and serve as a model to other towns.

“We’re trying to bring all these disciplines into the community, in order to look at our living environment in the face of pressures that compel us to move toward sustainability,” Frank said.

With RF Arts and Humanities Network funding of $20,000, the team looks to organize events that will bring artists, academic and community stakeholders together for conversations about sustainable options and visions for the town.

One of the primary methods Frank will deploy to achieve this goal is the use of system drawing, a mode of socially-engaged art in which the group uses large, collage imagery as a basis to inspire and chart conversations seeking potential solutions to a given problem.

“I think of system drawing as a communal process, and one in which we can build joint ownership through dialogue and visioning,” Frank said. “It’s a mode of working and inquiry that I rely on more and more, and one that I increasingly share with my students, colleagues and neighbors.”

The study will also make use of a 3D-designed model of the Town of New Paltz and a mobile pavilion, composed of recyclable materials, which is a student-driven product of one of Puthoff’s recent sculpture courses. The pavilion can serve as a locus for impromptu on-site gatherings and spur conversation about how art, design and sustainability can move the community forward.

“The system drawings, the pavilion and the 3D model of the town provide us with a visioning toolkit,” Frank said. “These provide multiple perspectives that we hope will encourage ourselves and our collaborators in the town to be playful and creative in thinking about what could be done to promote a sustainable future.”

The SUNY RF grant will enable the investigators to hire a few student assistants to support the project, but interested students will have ample opportunities to partake in the study’s methods in courses led by Frank and Puthoff and in community meetings and workshops with the town facilitated by the grant.

“My intention is to continue sharing with students about what I’m doing, and continue pushing to get as many students as possible involved in research and conversations that involve the town,” Frank said.

More information about funding opportunities available through the SUNY Research Foundation is available online.