Exploring Sustainability Across the Arts @ Concordia University

Exploring Sustainability Across the Arts (ESA) is an ongoing initiative that aims to explore sustainable alternatives to vinyl exhibition signage, along with perspectives on sustainability across the arts. Starting in 2021, during my tenure as Director of the FOFA Gallery, I launched a project to develop and document alternative materials and techniques for creating gallery signage. The project has included a series of hands-on workshops, in-gallery experiments, collaborations with artists and conversations with others working on similar ideas.

A bilingual signage toolkit and publication are available for download.

Since September 2024, Josh Jensen and Joé Côté-Rancourt have been leading this initative as Co-Curators in Sustainability and Engagement at the FOFA Gallery and helped bring these techniques to other art spaces in Montréal (including the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery), and beyond.

The project was initiated with support from team members Geneviève Wallen, María Andreína Escalona De Abreu, and Pierina Corzo-Valero. The first year of the project was led by Jasmine Sihra, Curator of Sustainability and Engagement. 

This project receives the ongoing support from: the Canada Council for the Arts; Concordia University’s Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR); the Centre for Sustainable Curating at Western University; and the Sustainability Action Fund.