Want to learn more about what the arts sector is doing to combat climate change? Join POWarts for a in-depth panel conversation led by individuals taking action to address pressing environmental concerns. Hosted by POWarts Steering Committee member Dr. Fari Nzinga, the conversation will include Elizabeth Smith, Executive Director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Joyce Lee, Chair of American Alliance of Museums Environment Climate Network, Laura Lupton, art and climate advisor, and Haley Mellin, painter and conservationist.
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About the speakers:
Elizabeth Smith is an American art historian, curator, writer, and the first Executive Director of the New York-based Helen Frankenthaler Foundation since 2013. The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, established by the artist during her lifetime, supports Frankenthaler’s legacy through a variety of initiatives, including exhibitions, loans of artworks, research and publications, conservation, grants, educational programs for the public and the scholarly community, and the publishing of a catalogue raisonné. It is dedicated to promoting greater public interest in and understanding of the visual arts. Among the Foundation’s recent grant programs centering on visual arts institutions are the Frankenthaler Prints Initiative for university-affiliated museums and the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative. Previously Smith was Executive Director, Curatorial Affairs, at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto; Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Joyce Lee is a leader in sustainability and institutional organization with a focus on cultural facilities. She developed policy expertise as Chief Architect at the New York City Office of Management and Budget under Mayor Bloomberg working with PlaNYC. Her work on health and sustainability continues in her practice today. Her past portfolio includes the US Green Building Council, International Well Building Institute/Delos, Queens Botanical Gardens, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of the American Revolution, and the Tech Museum. She's the current Chair of American Alliance of Museums Environment Climate Network. During her tenure, she has created member programming accessible to thousands of allied organizations. Her Climate Week international programs reached Australia, China, Canada, EU and South America. She chaired the AAM Sustainability Excellence Awards. She supported the development of the Sustainable Exhibition Design and Construction Toolkit.
Laura Lupton is an art and climate advisor based in New York City. Over the past decade, she has worked directly with some of contemporary art's leading artist studios, galleries, non-profit institutions, and museums to produce ambitious creative projects. With a focus on collaborative and worker-centered climate action, she is the co-founder of several initiatives at the intersection of art and climate: Galleries Commit, Artists Commit, Barder.art, and the Visual Arts PACT.
Haley Mellin is a painter and conservationist based in San Francisco, California. She works on large-scale land conservation focused on biodiversity and deep-store carbon systems. In 2017, Mellin founded the Art into Acres not-for-profit to support permanent land conservation on behalf of artists and institutions. To date, the initiative has supported 32 million acres of new protected area establishment. She co-founded Conserve.org, Environmental Council at MOCA Los Angeles, Artists Commit and Art and Climate Action in 2020. From 2020-2024, Mellin is providing pro-bono carbon calculations and education for museums supported by a 2022 Teiger Foundation grant. Recent exhibitions include Hudson House, New York; The Journal, New York; Alexander Berggruen, New York; F Houston, Texas; Shoulder, Los Angeles; MoMA Ps1, New York; Bischoff Projects, Germany; Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Belgium and Museo Pino Pascali, Italy. She studied at U.C. Berkeley (B.A.), New York University (Ph.D.) the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program and is a student of teachers Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky.