A Virtuous Circle To Grow – Art, Environment, School, Philanthropy, Government, Business

Thanks to Co-Chair Suzette Bulley – mother, artist, environmentalist, philanthropist – I recently attended the inspiring Openlands Annual Luncheon honoring a similarly remarkable woman and artist – Terry Evans.

The inspiration of these two women alone would have made for a great day; their humanity and love of nature shine through in all they do. But, fortunately, I also learned about a new Openlands program – Space To Grow, which transforms urban asphalt into school yard spaces for outdoor learning, play, gardening, physical education, art and community connection. View the videos by Board Chair Richard Calrson and another by honoree Terry Evans here. Take a look at some of her most extraordinary work in Chicago and the glorious prairies of Illinois.

Openlands is a smart collaborator – facilitating support from the water district and input from surrounding communities – to launch the program with four Chicago schools. It’s a smart fundraiser too, because it recognized the philanthropic heft of female artists and environmentalists – over 900 attended the event sponsored by ArcelorMittal, ComEd, ITW and more.

Arts, environment, education, philanthropy, government, community engagement – a powerful virtuous circle indeed. Please help grow this one and others that are similar.

For additional reasons to support such collaborations, please see these ten common sense reasons every school should have a non-asphalt schoolyard too:

http://greenschoolyardnetwork.org Also, please watch an overview video on Openlands.