COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State University is hosting a "Conference on Global Coal Transitions" this week that will see researchers from around the world discuss the communal effects of moving away from coal as a fuel source.
For its part, The Wexner Center for the Arts is hosting several programs that look at the issue from an artist's perspective.
"It's part of our mission at The Wexner Center for the Arts to really bring cutting-edge artists into our communities to think about the issues that our world is facing," said Emily Haidit, curator of public programs at the Wex.
On July 17, the Wexner Center will partner with The Pomerene Center for the Arts in Coshocton for the only central Ohio staging of "Calling Hours," a theatrical presentation of the effects that the closure of the AEP Conesville Coal-fired Power Plant had on the surrounding communities. The production is based on community member interviews conducted by a team of researchers from Ohio State led by Dr. Jeffrey Jacquet.
"The idea behind the production is to really allow the community to process that closure, grieve that closure, and really look forward to how their community can rebuild," explained Haidit.
"Calling Hours" joins an artistic exhibition called "A Hole is not a Void" by the Appalachian artist Jonas N.T. Becker which has been on display at The Wex since June.
"[Becker's] work really thinks about ways that labor and land and extraction are tied to environmental inequities and injustices," explained Haidit.
Spread across two different spaces, Becker presents a variety of artistic concepts.
"Blank Topographies" confronts "established systems of value for land in the United States, highlights the historic relationship between property and inequity and opens space for alternative systems of value." Their photographs called "Better or Equal Use" incorporate coal from mountaintop removal mines in the printing process to depict the current state of former mining locations.
"The arts are a way for folks to process what's going on in our world, in our culture, in our society, in our communities," said Haidit. "It's a way to heal, it's a way to think, it's a way to investigate; the arts area way for us to get at these issues that are happening in our world."
The only performance of "Calling Hours" will be on Wednesday, July 17 at 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public with a ticket which can be reserved here.
The exhibition "A Hole is not a Void" will be on display through August 21 and is also free and open to the public.
On July 18, artist Jonas N.T. Becker will be joined by "Calling Hours" contributors Tom Dugdale and Anne Cornell, as well as poet Julie Rae Powers, for an artists' talkback where they will discuss "how artists are responding to changing landscapes, economic disruptions and energy extraction." That is also free and open to the public with a ticket which can be reserved here: https://wexarts.org/talks-more/artist-response-coal-transitions