In this episode of the Art + Climate series on the Tech in the Arts podcast, join AMT Lab's Lead Researcher Hannah Brainard and Social Media and Marketing Manager Ashley Offman in conversation with Molly Braverman, Director of the Broadway Green Alliance.

Molly has worked as a Stage Manager on Broadway, national tours, and regionally, having spent three years on the road with the National Tour of Wicked and continuing to serve as a substitute Stage Manager on Wicked and Hamilton.

Molly shares how her work at the Broadway Green Alliance has allowed each cast and creative team to be an agent of change in a way that fits their show's needs, how sustainability branches out beyond the environment, and the first step that every organization should take in their sustainability journey.

In this episode of the Art + Climate series on the Tech in the Arts podcast, hear from Sandra Goldmark, an Associate Professor in Theatre at Barnard College and the Senior Assistant Dean for Interdisciplinary Engagement at the Columbia Climate School. A professor, designer, and entrepreneur, Sandra’s work focuses on the circular economy and regenerative climate strategy. She is the founder of Fixup, a New York City-based pop-up repair shop, and the co-creator of the Sustainable Production Toolkit for performing arts organizations. 

In this conversation with AMT Lab Lead Researcher, Hannah Brainard, Sandra shares how her background in theatrical design has supported her career in “stuff” and offers tips for arts organizations considering reducing their impact. 

Additional Links:

Sandra Goldmark: https://sandragoldmark.com/

Sustainable Production Toolkit: https://www.sustainableproductiontoolkit.com/

Can concerts mobilize music fans to climate action? From signing a petition or voting, to participating in a protest - what actions are fans most likely to take when their favorite artists ask them to? Over the last year, Planet Reimagined’s Climate Active Fellows, Caleb Johnson and Li-Ya Mar have been tackling these questions through their project “Amplify: How to Build a Fan-Based Climate Movement.” 

Planet Reimagined is a nonprofit organization founded by AJR bassist Adam Met and human rights activist Mila Rosenthal, which focuses on translating climate research into meaningful change. In this podcast, Caleb and Li-Ya talk with AMT Lab Lead Researcher Hannah Brainard about their research process, sharing some key findings and next steps. 

What’s next for Amplify?

Planet Reimagined will implement the Amplify recommendations during AJR’s 43-city nationwide “The Maybe Man” tour this summer. At arenas across the U.S., they will connect fans with meaningful local action opportunities at each show while REVERB helps to reduce the environmental impact of the tour. 

Additional Links:

• Learn more about the project: Amplify: How to Build a Fan-Based Climate Movement

• Read the full report. 

Watch a CNN segment about the project with co-founder Adam Met.

In the second episode of AMT Lab’s Art + Climate podcast series, the conversation continues with Jennifer Torrance, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens’ Youth Climate Advocacy Committee (YCAC) Coordinator. 

In this episode, she talks about her experience attending the recent United Nations Climate Conference, or COP28, with YCAC leader and University of Pittsburgh senior, Anna Bagwell. Though attending a COP conference may be “like trying to drink from a firehose,” Torrance unpacks what a day might look like - from meeting with your observer constituency group and sitting in on negotiations, to networking and other sessions.. She also shares some of her key takeaways for cultural organizations, including joining a network like the Climate Toolkit for Museums, Gardens, and Zoos presented by Phipps. 

For more information about Torrance’s work with YCAC and engaging young people in the climate movement, listen to Part One.

Kicking off AMT Lab’s Art + Climate series, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens’ Jennifer Torrance discusses her work supporting a space for youth climate engagement. 

 Phipps’ Youth Climate Advocacy Committee (YCAC)  resources and empowers Pittsburgh’s young people to take action on issues that they care about. Torrance is a science educator and the YCAC Coordinator at Phipps. She holds a bachelor of science in environmental science from Allegheny College. She has been sparking children’s passion for the natural world at Phipps since 2016.

In this unique program, young people take on a variety of projects that unite their skills and interest in the climate movement. From a water bottle photojournalism project, to developing curriculum for elementary students, and even an eco-fashion show. 

This interview is in two parts. To hear about Torrance’s experience attending COP28, accompanied by YCAC youth leader and University of Pittsburgh student Anna Bagwell, look out for part two.

Get a behind the scenes look at the Art && Code podcast series. In this wrap-up episode, AMT Lab’s Podcast Producer Jabrenee Hussie, Social Media and Marketing Coordinator Ashley Offman, and Lead Researcher Hannah Brainard discuss key takeaways from the series. They look back at some of their favorite interview moments, from ethics of artificial intelligence as an artistic tool to the social scene of live-coding. 

The Art && Code Series, in partnership with the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, featured seven artists working in live visual performance, immersive design, and software development. Artists included Zoe Sandoval, Matthew Ragan, Kate Sicchio, Sarah Groff Hennigh-Palermo, Char Stiles, Olivia Jack and David Lublin.

In the fifth episode of the Art&&Code podcast series AMT Lead Researcher, Hannah Brainard, talks with David Lublin, a video artist, programmer, and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. Lublin is the co-owner of VIDVOX, a software company specializing in tools for real-time video mixing. In this podcast, they discuss the field of video instrumentalism, or ‘VJing,’ and how Lublin’s unique background as a mathematician and artist helped carve a path for his career. Since first checking out equipment at his university library, the pursuit of advancing his own artistic output has helped Lublin develop tools for fellow artists. Looking ahead, Lublin anticipates myriad opportunities for emerging technology in the field, including enhanced experience and audience connectedness through immersive augmented and virtual reality

Olivia Jack is a programmer and artist who works frequently with open-source software, cartography, live coding, and experimental interfaces. In this episode of the Art && Code Podcast series, Jack talks with AMT Lab Lead Researcher Hannah Brainard about Hydra, a browser-based open source software she developed for live-coding visuals. With a background in computer engineering, Jack was first introduced to the world of live coding in Bogota, Columbia while working primarily as a programmer. Though initially skeptical, she quickly connected with the community and found that watching artists think through the creative process helped shift her approach to software development.

Beyond Hydra, Jack’s research interests include algorithmic representations of uncertainty and chaos, peer2peer networking, and live coding as a way to enter into a continuous dialogue or feedback loop between herself and her computer. 

In the third episode of the Art&&Code podcast series AMT Lead Researcher, Hannah Brainard, talks with Char Stiles, a computational artist, educator and programmer based in Brooklyn, NY. Stiles works creatively in the lower levels of graphical computational systems and is currently at the MIT Media Lab’s Future Sketches group.

In this podcast, Stiles talks about how her background in painting introduced her to the world of live visuals. While enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University, Stiles picked up gigs as a VJ and has since gone on to perform internationally, including festivals such as Electric Forest, and Mutek Nexus. Additionally, Stiles shared about the importance of working collaboratively in the creative process through groups like Livecode.nyc and Hex House. Stiles dives into her current and recent work with galactic algorithms and extending live-coding visuals into augmented reality spaces.

For the second episode of AMT Lab’s Art && Code series, Social Media and Marketing Coordinator Ashley Offman talks with Sarah Groff Hennigh-Palermo and Dr. Kate Sicchio, two-thirds of the live coding trio known as Codie. 

Sarah and Kate discuss how their prior experiences in academia and at tech giants influence the art they create. They also talk of their interdisciplinary approaches to performance, including the integration of coding in live performance, as well as the nuances and differences that exist in the live coding and DIY sound scenes worldwide. Sarah and Kate discuss the performative nature of the live coding scene and how, in this discipline, the code is the show's star. The trio uplifts the beauty and importance of making errors in live coding and the creative process at large, highlighting the potential for innovation and education. 

AMTLab Lead Researcher, Hannah Brainard talks with Zoey Sandoval and Matthew Ragan, the creators of SudoMagic, a design and software development studio, which focuses on immersive experiences.

In this podcast, Sandoval and Ragan share how their respective backgrounds in filmmaking and performance have set them up for careers in immersive design. After meeting at a conference for Art & Technology in 2015, the collaborators combined their talents to form the design studio 2020 and work with companies such as Meta, Apple, T-Mobile, and Dell as they reimagined their physical spaces. Sandoval and Ragan discuss TouchDesigner and other software and hardware used to create these experiences. Diving into the creative process, storytelling and participatory design are recurring elements in their work, including recent projects Calaveras (This is Not a Sugar Skull) , and Lumisphere Experience. While artificial intelligence and machine learning have been tools in their artistic practice, Sandvol and Ragan offer predictions and ethical concerns around how these models may be trained and implemented in the future.