Rothenberg and Linder, "New Polluters" Panel Discussion at Buffalo Arts Studio

In partnership with area environmental activist organizations including Clean Air Coalition and Climate Smart Task Force, and Buffalo Waterkeepers, Buffalo Arts Studio presents the panel discussion, “New Polluters” featuring artists, academics, and grassroots activists discussing the environmental impact of cloud computing and crypto-mining on our community. The panel will include exhibiting artists Joan Linder and Stephanie Rothenberg as well as North Tonawanda resident Deb Gondek who advocated for the two-year moratorium on new operations and the expansion of existing data centers. Residents brought the complaint after noise and increased pollution by Digihost, the company operating a crypto-mine at the former Fortistar power plant site on Erie Avenue in North Tonawanda, posed quality of life issues and environmental risk. Environmental Justice Organizer

Bridge Rauch with Clean Air Coalition of WNY will also serve as a panelist. Rauch has a Master’s of Regional Planning from SUNY Albany and has worked extensively in Buffalo’s non-profit sector, including at The Service Collaborative of WNY, Preservation Buffalo-Niagara, and the Coalition for Economic Justice. Also on the panel is Elizabeth Cute, Sr. Program Manager with Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. Cute Oversees place-based environmental justice programming for high school students, water quality monitoring programs, and leads PFAS and Plastic Pollution Prevention policy and advocacy efforts. 

The panel expands upon the work in the two exhibitions currently on display at Buffalo Arts Studio; Fulfillment by Joan Linder and Aquadisia by Stephanie Rothenberg. Linder’s drawings, including the 144-inch Bitcoin at Dupont, Buffalo Ave, 2022, examine local aspects of the hidden-in-plain-sight landscape of e-commerce, cloud computing, and crypto-mining. Rothenberg’s Aquadisia is a multimedia installation that focuses on the desire to be more sustainable and explores the ethical and economic contradictions of biotechnology within the fields of marine science and environmental conservation. These exhibitions are part of Waterfront View, a series of exhibitions, workshops, and panel conversations that examine how late-stage capitalism has shifted the view of water and waterways from a resource of collective benefit to a commodity of individual interest and shareholder profit. 

Fulfillment and Aquadisia are on display September 27–November 9, 2024. Waterfront View supports the creation of new work that critically addresses contemporary issues surrounding economic and environmental justice and reflects the belief that artists and curators can effect change through collaborations that balance community needs with artistic insight. All programs are curated to spur dialogue between varied audiences while working toward social, economic, and environmental justice. These programs realize the Buffalo Arts Studio’s mission to provide fair compensation for working artists while creating cultural connections that consider the ways artwork, curatorship, and criticism engage diverse audiences within contemporary political discourse.

Buffalo Arts Studio receives exhibition support from The Cameron and Jane Baird Foundation, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Erie County Cultural Funds, Humanities New York, John R. Oishei Foundation, M&T Bank, National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Arts & Culture Initiative, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and through Arts Services Inc.’s Creative Impact Fund program thanks to a New York State Senate Initiative supported by the NYS Legislature and the Office of the Governor, and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.

About the Artists:

Joan Linder is Professor in the Department of Art at SUNY Buffalo and is the recipient of a 2024 NYSCA Support for Artists grant. Linder’s artwork has been exhibited internationally in group exhibitions and in over 25 solo exhibitions, including at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, The Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, IA, the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan, and Mixed Greens Gallery. She has been awarded residency fellowships at Yaddo, MacDowell, Villa Montalvo, Smack Mellon Studios, and Lower East Side Printshop. Linder’s work has been written about in publications that include Hyperallergic, Art in America Magazine, and The New York Times. She recently co-curated Hot Spots: Radioactivity in the Landscape, at the University at Buffalo Art Galleries and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Krannert Art Museum. 

Stephanie Rothenberg is Professor and Chair in the Department of Art at University at Buffalo, SUNY has exhibited internationally in venues and festivals including ISEA (international), Eyebeam Art and Technology Center (US), Sundance Film Festival (US), Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art / MASS MoCA (US), House of Electronic Arts / HeK (CH), LABoral (ES), Transmediale (DE), and ZKM Center for Art & Media (DE). She is a recipient of numerous awards including a Creative Capital, Harpo Foundation and NYSCA. She has been an artist-in-residence at ZK/U in Berlin, TOKAS / Tokyo Art and Space (JP), the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace/LMCC (US), Eyebeam Art and Technology Center (US), Santa Fe Art Institute (US) among others. Her work is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art and has been reviewed in Artforum,Artnet, The Brooklyn Rail, and Hyperallergic. 

Buffalo Arts Studio (BAS) connects diverse communities through visual arts via inclusive exhibitions, educational programs, mentorships, and public art while also providing affordable studio space, exposure, paid opportunities, and ongoing professional development for visual artists. BAS is a catalyst for self-empowerment, innovation, and action focused on enhancing our region. 

For more information, visit: https://www.buffaloartstudio.org

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Sydney O'Shei 

Special Events and Development Coordinator 

Buffalo Arts Studio 

Suite 500, Tri-Main 

2495 Main Street 

Buffalo, NY 14214 

(716) 833-4450 x 114