Excerpts, talkbacks and Q&A with special guests
providing health and healing education and advocacy.

Wednesday
May 19, 2021 at 7:30pm PT

Climate Change Action through the Arts

A Conversation and Audience Q&A with
The Arctic Cycle Founder Chantal Bilodeau

The Arctic Cycle uses storytelling and live performance to foster dialogue about our global climate crisis, create an empowering vision of the future, and inspire people to take action. Operating on the principle that complex problems must be addressed through collaborative efforts, we work with artists across disciplines and geographic borders, solicit input from researchers in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, and actively seek community and educational partners. In 2008, the Arctic Cycle established itself as a pioneer, harnessing the power of theatre to address climate change issues. Over the past decade, they have continued to carve a unique place within the artistic and scientific communities, creating a much-needed disciplinary bridge, engaging with hundreds of artists and scientists, and inspiring as many audiences from all walks of life. Through various initiatives, The Arctic Cycle has created a model for the field, inspired radical life changes among citizens, and shown that we can address pressing social and environmental issues in novel ways using art as a catalyst.

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ABOUT THE PERFORMER

Chantal Bilodeau is a playwright and translator whose work focuses on the intersection of arts, science, policy, and climate change. Awards include the Woodward International Playwriting Prize as well as First Prize in the Earth Matters on Stage Ecodrama Festival and the Uprising National Playwriting Competition. Author of the eight plays (two finished, four upcoming) of The Arctic Cycle, she has written about the intersection of arts and climate change for publications in the US and abroad, and has been a guest speaker at several universities. She curates the HowlRound series Theatre in the Age of Climate Change and is an artistic collaborator in the Science & Arts Project at IIASA in Vienna. 

About the Program and Hosts

SOLO ARTS HEAL, a weekly MarshStream Public Broadcast Platform program, presents empowering performances about healing and resilience. Through hosted interviews, talkbacks and audience Q&A, the Solo Arts Heal program provides transformative experiences, education, community outreach and advocacy through stories that celebrate the healing power of the arts.

Stephanie Weisman founded and has been the Artistic/Executive Director of The Marsh since its inception in 1989. Under her leadership, The Marsh has grown from a one-night-a-week performance series to producing 600-700 shows annually on its four stages. In addition to its developing work performance series, The Marsh’s programs include: artist-in-residencies, after-school and summer workshops for youth both onsite and in 5 SFUSD, and performance development classes, workshops and Performance Initiatives. In 1996 Stephanie spearheaded the drive to successfully buy their 12,000 sq ft facility on Valencia Street in San Francisco. This increased The Marsh’s programs four-fold as well as provided for a stable Bay Area arts organization. In 2010, The Marsh added a second venue in Berkeley. In 2020, Stephanie initiated MarshStream. She is currently at work developing her opera, Aphrodisia, with dancer, Wei Wang.

Gail Schickele champions arts & sciences as a writer, speaker, consultant, and producer. In January 2020 she convened an artist collective to assist solo artists whose unique stories of physical and mental challenges manifest the healing power of The Arts. COVID inspired Stephanie Weisman to create SOLO ARTS HEAL on The MarshStream to share these outstanding stories of resilience, dramatic and comedic, for the entertainment and benefit of communities everywhere. Gail’s work in marketing, management, and production has served various theaters, festivals and events nationwide. Trained as a journalist in New York and Colorado, she has covered Colorado state politics and the environmental landscape of the Rockies. Environmental educational and advocacy work in California includes the League of Women Voters and The Climate Reality Project. Gail is honored to curate and host SOLO ARTS HEAL where artists powerful stories offer audiences great performance and ‘informance’ on issues related to health and the environment, inexorably linked.

Kristin Scheel, has worked in production and development at The Marsh since 2018. She is a freelance writer and member of Open Windows art cooperative in the Bayview. She has a background in social work with the State of Oregon and program management experience as a small business owner and preschool director in San Francisco. She has an MFA from Mills College, and serves on the boards of Guerrilla Cartography and PATHSTAR.


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