Bend Artists Show Up Big Coal

I moved to Bend in September, and with the help of Victoria Leistman, a Green Corps organizer for Sierra Club, and a quirky group of BeyondCoal activists, organized a community Art Show at the local environmental center. The event was called, Trick-or-Treat for Energy and it featured art that depicted either the Trick–the risks of continuing to burn fossil fuels, or the Treat–the hope for a switch to clean, renewable energy options. We provided a platform for these artists and the community to collectively envision a transition from coal to clean energy.

There were 15 different artists and more than 25 different works of art provided by local artists and engaged community members. Some of the art was dark, depicting skeletons praying or desolate landscapes that called out warning about ignorance and apathy towards overuse of fossil fuel resources.

Other pieces were light, showing serene green nature, or a world where life is not made simply for profit.  Children’s art peppered through the collection simply showed how the next generation understands that clean energy is available and ready if only we make the choice to switch to it.

The artwork that people contributed was truly powerful, and reflective of the diversity of the individuals and the perspectives they might bring to the table through their art, and there was even more to the event! We were lucky to have live music by Matt Strait and a group of talented bluegrass-folk friends. How appropriate, because bluegrass has many old-timey coal songs, harkening to real accounts of the devastation and wreckage coal has always brought to America.

To round out the evening, we set up a table with a participatory art project for the community to contribute to. We included this art message in our Media release; reporting BeyondCoal’s successfully growing coalition of businesses calling for clean energy now.

The event was a hit and generated real interest and enthusiasm for the clean energy movement. We estimated 150 people attended! A great turnout for a one-night-only, locally-organized event, if you ask me! Art is powerful!

To read the full article that Sierra Club published, click here.

A bit about myself: I’m a 27 yr-old, Portlander, born and raised, I’ve been doing regular volunteer work with Sierra Club, as well as attending public hearings on proposed NW coal operations for the past few years. My main calling is to find interesting ways to reach out to people to spread knowledge of our imminent energy and environmental situation. One thing I have learned is that the best way to get the message out is through art.

For those of you in other regions of the state, I’ve written up a little info about the coal fight in our area of Bend, Oregon.

• Sierra Club is working on a campaign to inform citizens that the main electric utility for Bend is Pacific Power, and the mix we get here is 2/3 coal. Most people assume their power is hydroelectric because we are in Oregon, but its NOT. Oregon sells its hydro profits to other states, and buys dirty coal energy from inland states. For those who don’t believe coal hurts the environment, we are sharing the economic nonsense (non-cents) of a price-hikes-and-few-jobs reality. Not everyone believes in Climate Change, which is why we are sharing the 101 other reasons to keep coal in the ground.
•  The business coalition we are building is NOT taking any action – they are just calling on local government and Pacific Power to start investing NOW in clean energy. It’s a small step, but I believe it’s important to build our voice by adding other interest groups, and take measurable steps to call for action from our government.
•  In talking about Pacific Power’s Coal usage, we are also exposing the flaws of their Blue Sky program, in which electricity customers pay Pacific Power for supposedly clean energy but the money funds clean energy projects built elsewhere. The fee that I and these other caring, green-minded Bend-ites are paying is really just fueling big coal!