I am currently working on a project called The Green Room that is a “sustainable theatre initiative”.  The Green Room is right now a simple website created to explore, research and share ideas about producing sustainable theatre in the United States.   Though many institutions have implemented sustainable practices, the theatre industry as a whole lags behind. Other organizations have started working on sustainable options for other areas of the fine arts, but there is a lack of documentation about the amount of waste being produced and what ways theaters are or are not currently practicing more sustainable options.  The Green Room’s mission is to discover environmentally friendly options for the production of theatrical events in order to educate theatre practitioners about affordable sustainable practices and provide a forum in order to discuss, brainstorm and create green theatre.

              In order to gather more information about environmental sustainability trends in American theaters and academic programs, I have put together a short survey that is posted on “The Green Room” website:  www.the-g-room.weebly.com. I am using the information from this survey to track supply and energy developments in our country as well as inclinations toward a more sustainable industry.   I am currently applying for grants to help supplement the survey and build a better website.

                  In addition to the survey, I will be starting experiments and research on more sustainable materials and practices including but not limited to: wood, paint, dry-cleaning, and energy alternatives that are financially feasible for companies off all sizes. As part of the initiative I will seek to publish this research and scholarly journals over the next five years. 

              The long-term goal of The Green Room is to create a non-profit organization called “The Green Room” that can help individual companies and academic programs find personalized solutions to making their theaters more eco-friendly, while lowering production and facility costs.  The organization will provide a network of environmentally conscious resources to the institutions involved in The Green Room’s Sustainability Initiative.  Before this can happen, more research must be done on producing eco-friendly theater and what the current state of our country’s theater practices are.  This will be done through the survey, academic research, material experiments and a sustainable model production. 

                  I am also trying to incorporate new sustainable and eco-friendly ideas into my own designs as well as my teaching curriculum.  There is a long-standing and understandable idea in theatrical design and construction that the artists must start with a “blank slate” for all there designs.  I teach that starting with a blank creative slate is wonderful but it does not have to translate into using all new materials for every design.  Creativity can also stem from using what resources you have and transforming them into a new artistic experience.

                  I am also developing a course focusing on sustainability in the arts that will bridge the gap between creativity and scientific research to find ways of using and creating non-toxic and environmentally friendly art.  This course will be focused on theater but will also incorporate architecture, art, and marketing.

              My scholarly goals are to publish my findings and continually integrate these findings and articles into my teaching.  I believe this project is important not only for our environment, but for the economic viability of the theatre industry.