EVENTS

“Oh Earth, Wait for Me”: Conversations About Art and Ecology
September – December 2009
Tucson, Arizona

Conservation isn’t all about science — it’s also deeply linked with art. So this fall, the Center is cosponsoring a season-long reading and lecture series featuring poets, musicians, and visual artists who will share and discuss their contributions to a deepening understanding of our bond with the natural world. On Thursday, September 10, the Center’s Executive Director Kierán Suckling introduced poet and essayist Alison Hawthorne Deming, who gave an interdisciplinary talk including environmental science, literary analysis, and environmental ethics. On September 24, Suckling introduced philosopher and musician David Rothenburg at the launch of online journal Terrain.org. Other events in the series include a talk by Sandra Alcosser on her poetry installation project placing poetry in zoos, an electro-acoustic soundscape concert by David Dunn, and a presentation of writing and visual art on ontology and place by Lucinda Bliss and Alison Hawthorne Deming. The series is hosted by the University of Arizona Poetry Center.

Lean more at the Poetry Center’s Web site, where you can also read poetry excerpts and hear music samples.

FUEL: The Film
Now playing

After growing up amongst Louisiana's oil refineries and watching his own family suffer from pollution-related cancers, in 1997 activist and filmmaker Josh Tickell took off in his biodiesel-powered "Veggie Van" on an epic road trip to make the film that would win the 2008 Sundance Film Festival's Audience Award for Best Documentary. FUEL, with appearances by a huge cast of notables including Jimmy Carter, Willie Nelson, Julia Roberts, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tracks the rise of Big Oil from Rockefeller's strategy to halt Ford's first ethanol cars to Dick Cheney's petrochemical company-sponsored legislation. But FUEL not only exposes America's debilitating addiction to oil — it also describes a gamut of intriguing solutions to "repower America," offering hope for a sustainable, oil-independent future. It received 11 standing ovations at Sundance, was shortlisted for the Oscars, and earned the Writers Guild of America's nomination for best documentary writing.

Take it from Tickell himself: "What's astounding about this movie is the way it leaves you feeling — hopeful, uplifted, and inspired." The FUEL team is building a national grassroots outreach campaign and wants you to help spread the word about the movie and what it stands for.

FUEL is now playing in various cities. Learn more about the film, watch a trailer, and see where it's playing here.