Trash Transformed: A Binational Perspective on Art and Sustainability

The "Trash to Art" initiative, a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project between Salem State University in the United States and Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, exemplifies the transformative power of global shared learning. Guided by Professors Tereza Swanda and Francisco González Romo de Vivar, this project engages students from diverse cultural backgrounds in repurposing discarded materials into meaningful artworks, promoting a profound understanding of environmental sustainability and cross-cultural collaboration. By aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals #12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production) and #13 (Climate Action), "Trash to Art" challenges participants to critically examine their consumption patterns and the environmental impact of human activities.

Additional Exhibition Events on Thursday, April 10

Artist Talk-12:30-1:30 pm

Reception-1:30-3 pm

The Winfisky Gallery is open from 10 am-4 pm, Monday through Friday. 

Bios

Dr. Francisco González Romo de Vivar is an Assistant Professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Hidalgo, specializing in Art History, Visual Culture, and Semiotics. He holds a PhD in Art History from Centro de Cultura Casa Lamm, where his dissertation focused on cinematic themes using Gilles Deleuze’s filmic philosophy. His research interests include transdisciplinary practices in cinema, minor cinemas, and the aesthetic implications of technological advancements.

In his academic work, Dr. González integrates these themes into his teaching, focusing on fostering global collaboration through technology-driven educational projects, including Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). His courses cover topics such as Film Analysis, Posthumanism, and Audiovisual Narrative, encouraging students to engage critically with both historical and contemporary media.

Dr. González is committed to creating learning environments that enhance student engagement and develop critical thinking. His current research explores intersections of cinema, media studies, and technology, continuously seeking new ways to enrich the educational experience in a global context.

Tereza Swanda’s interdisciplinary work centers on integrating with the ‘other,’ a term she uses to refer to diverse cultures, perspectives, and experiences. She resides in CZ and the States, teaching Studio Art and Art History at Salem State University and Roxbury Community College. Swanda holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BFA in Painting and Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

She is currently working on a collaborative online international learning project, Trash2Art, which connects US students across the border to learners in Mexico. During the pandemic, her community engagement project, Touchstone, was included in The Immigrant Artist Biennial/ Mother Tongue. The artist asked those affected by COVID-19 to email her photos of loved ones, which she painted on stone. Her curatorial project, Unredacted, brought ten artists together who acknowledged the political post-truth world as artists and activists. Swanda received the A.R.T. Fund award to pursue her project, Capital Cleanse, in a rogue installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has exhibited her work at the Whitney Center for the Arts (Pittsfield, MA), University of Oregon (Eugene, OR), Berliner Kunstprojekt (Berlin), 450 Broadway Gallery (NY), Bakalar and Paine Galleries (Boston, MA), Chemeketa Community College Art Gallery (Salem, OR), Center on Contemporary Art (Seattle, WA) online in Storyscape Journal and Waves joining over 20,000 women who have contributed over the years. She has been awarded residencies at VSC (Johnson, VT) and the Millay Colony (Austerlitz, NY). She has been attending workshops with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky in Italy and South Africa since 2000.