Washington Square Park holds a long and storied history of activism, serving as the site of the Occupy Wall Street protests and the starting location of climate marches in Rochester.
On Sept. 13, it will be the location of “Eco Vibes – Unfolding Our Future,” an interdisciplinary and collaborative artistic experience exploring the impact and response to climate change. The free show, part of the Rochester Fringe Festival, will bring together artists, activists and community members. It’s sponsored by the Climate Solutions Accelerator.
“There are performing elements to it, but the difference with this show and the past ones I’ve done, at least that I’ve done in Fringe, is actively involving artists … but also activists, climate organizations. It is so deeply community engaged,” said Andrea Gluckman, a photographer and civic artist.
“It really is bringing people together who maybe don’t even identify as artists,” said Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, a choreographer and dancer who teaches at the University of Rochester.
What is Eco Vibes Rochester?
Eco Vibes was created not through direction but collaboration, meaning different perspectives and ideas guided the process from a nebulous idea to a 60-minute live and interactive experience for free in a city park.
“We really try to bring the audience in and they become part of it,” Pasquarello Beauchamp said. “…There are people performing but the performance is grounded in the location, which is where many of the climate marches start.”
The show balances the existential dread synonymous with the challenges of climate change with the too rosy outlook on the state of the world.
“We wanted to avoid the toxic positivity, the whole ‘Hey, we’re going to be ok!’. But at the same time, there are beautiful ways to interact with the grief that we do have. And in my opinion, as Americans we aren’t great at doing that together,” Gluckman said. “And that was part of the service of this kind of show, that we have actual rituals embedded into the show. And in the end, it turns into that party.”
Attendees will be led through different artistic experiences with the park as a series of different stages. Musician Charli Une Des, said the show is community minded.
“I don’t want to give too much away but there’ll be art, there’ll be music, there’ll be dance, there’ll be a drum circle, there’ll be chanting,” Une Des said. “And we’re just going to be thinking about the world around us and giving back, showing that we care.”
The show will be held at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13 at Washington Square Park. It’s free and open to the public, part of the goal of being accessible in all aspects.
“There’s a phenomenon where in some of these activist spaces and intellectual spaces we tend to use words that are too big for most people to understand or concepts that people are not understanding so they’re not latching on,” Une Des said. “What’s different about EcoVibes is that it is accessible – we’re doing this through art. It’s free. It’s in a public space. Anybody can tap into it and connect to what’s happening here.”
— Steve Howe reports on weather, climate and the Great Lakes for the Democrat and Chronicle. An RIT graduate, he has covered myriad topics over the years, including public safety, local government, national politics and economic development in New York and Utah.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Eco Vibes brings artistic collaboration to the climate space
Reporting by Steve Howe, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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