ECOFEST

ECOFEST 2020

 
Greening Greater Racine and Gateway have decided to cancel EcoFest in light of the rapid developments surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19). 

This was a very difficult but mutual decision. Out of an abundance of caution, the event be cancelled due to the difficulty of keeping proper social distance at such a popular and people-focused event.

We’re looking forward to the 2021 event! 

[email protected]

 

Equinox @ EcoFest,  a Vital Art Project Exhibition 

By virtue of being a 4 hour Environmentally themed, impermanent, temporary exhibit, Equinox will create a tension, a feeling that something might be happening. 
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While the pulse of the total exhibition is strong and rhythmic, the individual works reflect an instinctive and sensitive response to an atrophied balance between human, nature, and the built environment.  What has emerged in the work of featured artists Marie Cassidy (IL), Judith Jones (MI), Dean Habegger (WI), Erik R. Peterson (WI), Mimi Peterson (WI), Alix Anne Shaw (WI), Daniel Teafoe (IL) fuels a sense of optimism and wellbeing. 

Bringing art to the audience has resulted in an unconventional exhibit.  The combined efforts of Gateway Technical College, Greening Greater Racine, and Vital Art Project, created this opportunity to channel artistic gesture and translate it directly into a meaningful on campus viewing experience in celebration of the Vernal Equinox at Ecofest, 2020.                                                                             

​Mimi Peterson, VAP

ECOFEST 2020

Another great year! Thank you to Gateway Technical College, Leadership Racine volunteers, participants and attendees!
Please enjoy the photos and video below.

Thanks to Dean Romano and his team of ​Conservation TV for this video! 

For full event details, visit Gateway’s site by clicking HERE. 

Golden Rondelle Program About the Great Lakes

What: “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes”
Who: Dan Egan, award winning author, reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences Policy Fellow When: Thursday evening, March 14 from 6:30 to 8:00. Doors open at 6:00
Where: at the SCJ Golden Rondelle on 14th Street near the lake. Please RSVP at www.scjohnson.com/CIPreservations. Do not wait. This program will be popular! Dan Egan is a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel covering the Great Lakes and a senior water policy fellow at UW-Milwaukee. His talk will be about the subject of his book and subsequent research on The Death and Life of the Great Lakes (2017) with a focus on Lake Michigan. The book is an amazing story, a landmark book of science and history; and his talk will be of interest to many people. The book got rave reviews and won the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award and the J. Anthony Lukas Award. As a journalist, he has been nominated for two Pulitzers for explanatory journalism. He will examine what threatens the great lakes and what can be done to preserve and restore them. Program:
  • Introduced by Mayor Cory Mason
  • Interviewed by Todd Brennan, Senior Policy Manager with the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Julie Kinzelman, Research Scientist with the City of Racine Health Department.
  • Q and A with the audience.
Sponsors: The program is being sponsored by Greening Greater Racine, Gateway Technical College, the Sierra Club, and the Greater Racine Water Council. Please post the flyer and share this announcement with those in your network.

Vital Art Project

Check out the fine art exhibit managed by Mimi Peterson at EcoFest this year!
PROMETHEAN  ORBIT>VITAL ART PRJECT, ​a Fine Art Exhibition …reflecting the caprice of nature and the complex layering of cultural change… Building on it’s success, Vital Art Project will again facilitate [email protected], a fine art exhibition. The physical presence of art work at Gateway Technical Collage, has the potential to be catalyst for expanding community discourse about environment – human, built, natural. The upcoming group exhibit will feature regional artists whose work champions differences, and paradoxically, collaboration in expressing ways to inhabit the world in a better way.
​Get a preview of the artists and art by clicking HERE.

ECOFEST 2018

An excerpt from our Thursday night talk “ZERO WASTE”, March 15, 2018. 
According to Mike Williams, Division Manager – Kestrel Hawk Landfill, “The most recent airspace information confirms that at our current rate of waste acceptance, Racine’s landfill does in fact have less than six years of life remaining.” We must find ways to reuse, reduce, and recycle what is now being put into the landfill.
Speakers included: Jim Palenick, Racine City Administrator, will discuss methods of reducing solid waste. Following Jim’s presentation, a panel of local activists will share practical ways that everyone in the greater Racine area can help reduce what is sent to landfills; Michael Keleman, Manager of Environmental Engineering with InSinkErator; Sue Obry, master composter; Dave Rhoads, Greening Greater Racine, on the “Zero Waste” Movement. 

EcoFest 2018 had a new addition this year! Music! Art! Food! The entertainment lineup included: 
10:00-10:45: Naomi Marie
10:45-11:00: Racine County Poet Laureate, Lyrical Lioness
11:00-12:00: James Sullivan & Kerry Spitzer
12:00-12:15: Racine County Poet Laureate, Lyrical Lioness
12:15-1:00: Naomi Marie
Proudly organized by Family Power Music

Artists were assembled thanks to the Vital Art Project created by Mimi Peterson. They provided an environmentally conscious art experience. 

We are truly amazed and thankful by how much bigger EcoFest has become. Greening Greater Racine is blessed to everyone that got involved: speakers, artists, students and teachers, musicians, presenters, companies, organizations, volunteers, the Mayor, and so much more that take part in this large-scale event. Of course we couldn’t do it without Gateway Technical College who hosts the event. And last but not least, we thank the community for bringing your friends and families to this event to learn what’s around us, how to make Racine more green and sustainable. ​
Check out the full details of EcoFest here! There was so much happening! Photos are courtesy of Gateway. Take a look at more photos by clicking here. 
An excerpt from our Thursday night talk “ZERO WASTE”, March 15, 2018.  According to Mike Williams, Division Manager – Kestrel Hawk Landfill, “The most recent airspace information confirms that at our current rate of waste acceptance, Racine’s landfill does in fact have less than six years of life remaining.” We must find ways to reuse, reduce, and recycle what is now being put into the landfill. Speakers included: Jim Palenick, Racine City Administrator, will discuss methods of reducing solid waste. Following Jim’s presentation, a panel of local activists will share practical ways that everyone in the greater Racine area can help reduce what is sent to landfills; Michael Keleman, Manager of Environmental Engineering with InSinkErator; Sue Obry, master composter; Dave Rhoads, Greening Greater Racine, on the “Zero Waste” Movement. EcoFest 2018 had a new addition this year! Music! Art! Food! The entertainment lineup included:  10:00-10:45: Naomi Marie 10:45-11:00: Racine County Poet Laureate, Lyrical Lioness 11:00-12:00: James Sullivan & Kerry Spitzer 12:00-12:15: Racine County Poet Laureate, Lyrical Lioness 12:15-1:00: Naomi Marie Proudly organized by Family Power Music Artists were assembled thanks to the Vital Art Project created by Mimi Peterson. They provided an environmentally conscious art experience. 

ECOFEST 2017

Thursday evening on March 16, Peter Poli and Patti Negai both provided a wonderfully informative talk about pollinators and ways to promote them at the Golden Rondelle. The following Saturday, March 18 at Racine Gateway Technical College, was the main event with over 50 local organizations, businesses, and schools highlighting different aspects of environmental friendly activities and presentations. ​Check out the photos below, courtesy of Gateway Technical College. For more photos, click HERE.  We are incredibly grateful to all volunteers & attendees that made this another successful year! 

ECOFEST 2016

Our FIRST annual ECOFEST! On March 18, 2016, SC Johnson’s Golden Rondelle hosted “Green and Healthy: The Future of Cities” event featuring guest speaker Jim Schwab with a local panel of professionals that work in improving environmental aspects of Racine that included: Julie Kinzelman, Nan Calvert, Matt Koepnick, and Reverend Bill Thompkins.  ​ Jim Schwab is a member of the American Planning Association in Chicago, an author and speaker on urban planning. Jim provided examples of how Racine can enjoy and develop green spaces that enhance the health and well-being of our community. Julie Kinzleman talked about her work in beach restoration (ie. Sam Meyers) and clean water, Nan Calvert and the numerous educational nature centers in the area, Matt Koepnick and his work with forestry and parks in Racine, and Reverend Bill Thompkins and his efforts in neighborhood beautification. ​EcoFest continued the following day at Gateway Technical College in Racine March 19, 2016. This was an event with over 50 vendors that shared information and encouraged participation in all sorts of environmental activities within the southeastern Wisconsin region to promote healthier and sustainable lives. The event was a huge success with over 600 attendees. Check out the details of the event here.  Greening Greater Racine is extremely thankful to the Golden Rondelle, Gateway and all vendors, volunteers and community that helped support this first time, successful event. Check out a few photos from the event. Photos courtesy of Gateway. For more photos, CLICK HERE.