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Help Paint a Climate-Action Mural

Sacramento River Scene Wins 嘿嘿视频 Challenge

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Photo illustration: Climate mural on side of barn
Photo illustration shows what the mural will look like when painted on Mike Russell鈥檚 barn along Road 102 between Davis and Woodland.

Quick Summary

  • Donors aim to inspire efforts to mitigate climate change
  • Mural will go on the side of a barn visible from Road 102
  • Painting supplies will be provided, along with food, music

Community members of all ages are invited to help paint a mural on the side of a barn along a well-traveled road between Davis and Woodland, in the culmination of the 嘿嘿视频 Climate Raising Challenge.

AT A GLANCE

  • WHAT: Mural painting, with food and music, too
  • WHEN: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, March 26 (rain date March 27)
  • WHERE: , about halfway between Davis and Woodland (Pole Line Road becomes Road 102 at the northern city limit of Davis)
  • ADMISSION: Free, and all supplies provided

In a riff on barn raisings of old, this is a mural raising 鈥 with art, food and music, free and open to the public 鈥 to celebrate and inspire climate activism.

嘿嘿视频 graduate student Rachael Dal Porto won the mural design contest with her depiction of the Sacramento River on its journey down the Sacramento Valley, from Mount Shasta to Sacramento. Now comes time to paint it, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (March 26). There鈥檚 no charge to participate, and all supplies are included.

The partnership behind the project 鈥 , the 嘿嘿视频 and the 鈥 is working off an idea put forth by community members Mike Russell and Steve Shaffer to support the environment through public art. The mural is going on Russell鈥檚 barn, and he and Shaffer have given financial backing to the Climate Raising Challenge.

The challenge asked 嘿嘿视频 students to identify climate-related agricultural issues in the Sacramento Valley, take positions on those issues, and develop mural proposals to communicate those positions to the public. The content drew 27 entries.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that this mural project will create a spark of interest, creativity and engagement so that people will think about the movement of environmental activism more,鈥 Shaffer said. 鈥淭his mural will build community.鈥

Russell and Shaffer hope the mural is the first of many for the community to enjoy the artistic representation of the region鈥檚 commitment to climate activism. They invite all to come, grab a paintbrush and enjoy the fun.

Sacramento Valley mural

Picturing a social discussion

Dal Porto, an environmental engineering consultant who is in her second year of graduate studies in civil and environmental engineering, said her design, 鈥淗ungry for Connection,鈥 was inspired by a combination of her personal beliefs and recognition of the effects of climate change in the Sacramento Valley鈥檚 ecosystem.

鈥榃HAT CAN I DO?鈥

The landscape in her mural depicts a hopeful future for the valley with floodplains and restored wetlands. Dal Porto said she foresees community efforts that could arise, say, to promote city cooling centers, food co-ops and community gardens, and bring about decreases in greenhouse-gas emissions and water use.

While Dal Porto does not consider herself an artist, she said she enjoys creating art as a hobby. She鈥檚 also excited about the potential impact the mural can have on the region and environmental justice.

鈥淪treet art has intense meaning and a social discourse. It鈥檚 public and it invokes beliefs that represent the community it鈥檚 drawn in,鈥 Dal Porto said. 鈥Seeing beautiful art in the city makes people feel welcomed, like there is a sense of community.

With 嘿嘿视频鈥 large, diverse student body, numerous clubs and the county鈥檚 commitment to a more sustainable lifestyle, Dal Porto felt that Yolo County was the perfect place to paint the mural.

Prizes: Dal Porto won $400 for 鈥淗ungry for Connection,鈥 while Rocio Chavez, an undergraduate majoring in landscape architecture, won the second-place prize of $200 for her entry, 鈥淏ring Back the Bugs.鈥

An environmental ag legacy

Shaffer and Russell are both retired from their extensive experience in environmental agriculture and community development.

Shaffer worked for the California Department of Food and Agriculture for 35 years, specializing in environmental issues associated with agriculture. He supported on-farm renewable energy production and conducted research on energy crops. After retiring from the CDFA in 2008, he worked as an environmental consultant to help farmers use natural resources more sustainably.

Russell鈥檚 AmeriCorps training in community development led to jobs at Youth Educational Services and other nonprofit organizations, after which he worked at 嘿嘿视频 as a surgical neurophysiologist in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and conducted clinical research with the Center for Neuroscience on Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease. He also started three companies, R&E Designs, Active Diagnostics and Aaken Laboratories. Today he is an almond farmer residing in Davis.

More recently, Russell and Shaffer have partnered to engage students on climate activism. They connected with Emily Schlickman, assistant professor of landscape architecture and environmental design at 嘿嘿视频, to devise the mural competition as a way to inspire the agricultural community around Davis toward climate-friendly practices.

Unseen person holds mural drawing along riverbank

Drawing people in

Russell, Shaffer, Schlickman and Dal Porto all hope the 嘿嘿视频 Climate Raising Challenge project will inspire people to come together.

鈥淧eople are afraid of climate change but we can dispel these fears by encouraging people with positivity,鈥 Russell said. 鈥淲e want this painting event to be the factor that uplifts our community.鈥

The goal of this mural painting event is to include as many people as possible in the discussion of mitigating and adapting to climate change.

鈥淭here are various ways to approach climate change in agriculture,鈥 Shaffer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our future and we need to find a way to be a part of the solution.鈥

Daniel Park 鈥23 is a student writer in the 嘿嘿视频 Office of Development and Alumni Relations.

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