Colors of Change: Sustainability in the Arts
Tuesday April 29th, 6:00 - 8:00 pm in Prince George's Room of Stamp
Join the Office of Sustainability and Arts for All as we explore the intersection between creativity and environmental health and justice. This event will provide a unique opportunity for students to look at environmental justice and restoration through creative expression and empower students from all majors to seek a connection between their fields of study and sustainability.
Why Attend
- Paint with watercolors made from plants, insects, acid mine drainage, and food waste!
- Explore sustainability through a new lens—creativity, emotion, and beauty.
- Engage with art, science, and storytelling to understand complex environmental issues.
- Collaborate and connect with students from across campus.
- Be inspired to take action in your own field, no matter your major.
Each academic discipline has unique and important contributions to make to a sustainable future, but those contributions will be more grounded in reality and of higher quality when generated from a multidisciplinary understanding.
Schedule of Events
Delicious Dinner & Community Building
6:00 - 6:20 PM
All that creativity will require some fuel! Enjoy a vegetarian, build-your-own taco or burrito bowl dinner from Qdoba. Food brings people together, and we hope this shared meal will spark new connections across majors.
Film Screening: Toxic Art
6:20 - 6:40 pm
We’ll kick off the evening with a screening of a short documentary that follows an artist-scientist duo as they tackle the environmental devastation caused by acid mine drainage (AMD). By extracting iron oxide pigments from polluted streams and turning them into paint, their project helps restore ecosystems and tells a story of environmental justice through beauty and color. Watch the trailer.
Poetry Reading
6:40 - 6:45 PM
To broaden our exploration beyond visual art, we’ll also feature a reading by the winner of the 2025 Sadat Arts for Justice and Peace Competition, which invites students to create art on a theme of peace & reconciliation. This powerful poem, inspired by the quote below, explores themes of justice, equity, and environmental responsibility.
Paint making Demo & Painting with Natural Pigments
6:45 - 8:00 PM
You’ll have the opportunity to paint with natural watercolor pigments created by UMD Plant Science students in the course, The Quest for Color. Students from the class will demonstrate how to grind pigment with a glass muller to make paint. Then, use these paints to create your own circular watercolor painting inspired by the film. You'll even get to take some paint samples home with you to continue creating!
Raffle Winners Announced
7:30 PM
All attendees will be entered into a raffle to win paint palettes! The Art of Soil palette contains handmade watercolors from soil based pigments and the Beam Paint palette is made from nature-derived pigments, maple sap, and gum arabic by a 100% Anishnaabe Kwe-owned business. These prizes support small, ethical businesses so you can continue exploring creative sustainability at home.
Registration
The event is limited to the first 60 students who register.
