The series Abundant Cities returns to the Walker to continue an exploration of civic life and our region at the intersection of art, culture, and climate. This free talk examines the question of how can imagination be a tool of rebellion and joy to move us toward a more just climate future and brings together both national and local thought leaders working across government, civics, and art spaces in relation to the environment. Featuring moderator Deborah Cullinan and panelists Benny Starr, Katy Lackey, Roopali Phadke, and Amanda Lovelee, this group comes together at a time when cross-sector conversations and collaborative solutions across creativities are especially needed. Join us for a pre-panel reception where you can play a round of a policy card game and win a free drink.
This event requires a free ticket. Registration is available online. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Gallery admission is free on Thursday nights, 5–9 pm.
Copresented with the Metropolitan Council’s Art + Policy Division, centering art and artists as leaders in imagining and shaping bold, bright, and playful regional policy for our collective futures.
Abundant Cities: Climate, Environment, and Connection
Thursday, March 20, 6–8 pm
Walker Cinema
Free with RSVP
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Amanda Lovelee is a civic and environmentally focused artist whose work sits at the intersection of science, connection, and system change. Her public practice uses empathy and play as tools to shift conversations about shared futures. She works with governments and in cross-sector collaborations, creating bright, joyful, engaging, and complex large-scale public art projects. In past projects, she has partnered with arborists, planners, biologists, water resource managers, and scientists. Lovelee is currently a US Cultural Policy Fellow at Stanford University, working on projects that foreground art, culture and climate change. She is the co-founder of CAIR Lab, a firm that builds and supports the field of artists in residence in government and is the co-founder of Plus/And a civic design studio that builds stronger cities through relationships and art. Lovelee holds an MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and BFA from University of Hartford. Her work has been supported by ArtPlace America, Jerome Foundation, Knight Foundation, McKnight Foundation, MN State Arts Board, Salzburg Global Seminar and the National Endowment for the Arts. She was a 2022/23 McKnight Visual Artist Fellow and 2022 Design for Civic Change Fellow at the Center for Urban Pedagogy.
Katy Lackey is a Senior Associate at PolicyLink, a national research and action organization advancing racial and economic equity for the 100 million living in or near poverty. At PolicyLink Katy supports the Water Equity & Climate Resilience (WECR) Caucus, a national network of 80 organizations advancing solutions at the intersection of water, climate, and justice. She works on federal advocacy, water affordability, climate justice, narrative change, and increasing the capacity of frontline organizations to effectively engage in federal policy. Prior to PolicyLink, Katy served as the Director of Climate Action at the US Water Alliance. While there, she led processes for shaping vision and action for climate mitigation efforts through water, built partnerships with cities and local/federal government agencies to advance equitable flood resilience strategies, and developed new programming for emerging water leaders and to integrate arts and cultural strategies to help solve water challenges. She brings a decade of expertise in the water and climate sectors, and a lifelong passion for finding ways to shift power and build common ground solutions.
Roopali Phadke is Professor of Environmental Policy at Macalester College, where she has taught since 2005. She also serves as Associate Director of the Serie Center for Teaching and Scholarship at Macalester College. Her teaching and research focus on energy, water and climate policy, with a focus on public engagement and community-based research methods. She received her PhD from the Univ. of California Santa Cruz in Environmental Studies, as well as a Master’s degree from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College. She also served as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow in the Science, Technology and Society Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Roopali’s research is focused on civic engagement in infrastructure development and energy transitions. Her most recent projects, funded by both the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy, consider how urban mining supports a circular economy of metals through e-waste collection. She is also a member of the Future Mississippi Collaborative, a research collective focused on the potential for dam removal on the Upper Mississippi. Dr. Phadke serves on many local and national boards including: World Learning, Native Sun, Northern Lights.mn, and Recycling Electronics for Climate Action (RECA).
Benny Starr is an artist and cultural strategist whose work engages Black Southern traditions and musical legacies to examine themes of resilience, justice, and historical memory. His practice merges artistic creation with cultural policy, exploring the role of the arts in civic infrastructure and social change. His 2019 project, A Water Album, recorded live with The Four20s and released on Juneteenth, was the first Hip-Hop performance at Spoleto Festival USA and named South Carolina’s Best Album by Free Times. In 2020, he co-founded Native Son with Rodrick Cliche, merging music and activism. Their project The Land amplifies the struggles of Black Legacy Farmers, and their concert film Restoration has been screened at nationwide film festivals. Benny was the inaugural One Water Artist-in-Residence at the U.S. Water Alliance and later served as Senior Fellow of Arts & Culture, integrating arts-based strategies into sustainability and equity initiatives. In 2021, Grist recognized him as one of its 50 Fixers for his climate and justice leadership. In 2023, he launched Watercolor Creative, a platform advancing artistic practice, cultural policy, and social impact. He is currently a U.S. Cultural Policy Fellow at Stanford University, where he examines the intersections of arts, culture, and civic infrastructure.
Deborah Cullinan (moderator) is a leading thinker on the pivotal ability of the arts to shape our social and political landscape and has spent years mobilizing communities through arts and culture. She joined Stanford University in early 2022 as the first full-time vice president for the arts. Previously, she was CEO of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), where she launched several bold new programs, engagement strategies, and civic coalitions. Prior to joining YBCA in 2013, she was the executive director of San Francisco’s Intersection for the Arts. She is a co-founder of CultureBank, board member of the Community Arts Stabilization Trust and EPACENTER, and recently served as co-chair of the San Francisco Arts Alliance and vice chair of the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy. She was the inaugural National Field Leader in Residence at Arizona State University’s National Accelerator for Cultural Innovation and a former innovator-in-residence at the Kauffman Foundation. She served on Mayor London Breed’s San Francisco Economic Recovery Task Force and on Governor Gavin Newsom’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery. Her passion for using art and creativity to shift culture and advance equity and justice has made her a sought-after speaker at events around the world.
ABOUT THE MET COUNCIL
The Metropolitan Council is the regional policy-making body, planning agency, and provider of essential services in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area. Our mission is to foster efficient and economic growth for a prosperous region.
ABOUT THE WALKER ART CENTER
Known for presenting today’s most compelling artists from close to home and around the world, the Walker Art Center features a broad array of contemporary visual arts, music, dance, theater, and moving image works. Ranging from concerts and films to exhibitions and workshops, Walker programs bring us together to examine the questions that shape and inspire us as individuals, cultures, and communities. The adjacent Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, one of the first urban sculpture parks of its kind in the United States, holds at its center the beloved Twin Cities landmark Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen as well as some 60 sculptures. Visit walkerart.org for more information on upcoming events and programs.
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Free Thursday Nights are sponsored by
Education and Public Programs are supported by the Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation and Susan and Rob White.