Latest news with #ProjectZero
Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Auction Of Globally-Renowned Artists On The French Riviera Benefits Coral Reef Protection And Restoration
Vibrant yellow googly eyes outlined in pale blue oil stick peer out from the top left of the canvas, adjacent to a face with three vertically stacked eyes. Large drips of white and blue paint obscure the chattering teeth frantically farmed in red in the lower canvas, hinting at water and perhaps someone being silenced. The artist's name 'moyo' is scrawled in pale blue oil stick over the face, suggesting a personal narrative. Myriad self referential symbols swim around the monumental painting, soaring more than five feet high and over feet wide. The bold colors emerge from a graphite background, evoking an emergence from darkness into light. Móyòsóré Martins, Emi Ko (It's Not Me) (2023) is among the 36 artworks featured in Thirty Six for Coral, an exhibition presented by The Coral Collective, an initiative by ocean charity Project Zero, on view June 12-20 at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera. Emi Ko is among select pieces to be auctioned at a closing gala on June 20, with proceeds directly supporting coral reef protection and restoration around the world. With an opening bid of €15,000 ($17,168), Emi Ko is expected to fetch between €25,000 ($28,614) and €35,000 ($40,060). Viewers cannot look away from the googly eyes or the stacked eyes on the Dogan-like figure honoring Martins' Brazilian father, underscoring the urgency to face serious decline in biodiversity and potential functional climate extinction of coral reefs. Born 1986 in Lagos, Nigeria, to a Nigerian mother from Ekiti state, the New York-based mixed-media artist paints complex layers from his imagination. Móyò, as he's better known, studied computer science in Ghana and the Ivory Coast before immigrating to New York City in 2015. A rising master, Martins has quickly developed a global following. 'I'm honored to contribute this piece in support of saving our coral reefs—a vital ecosystem that urgently needs our care,' Martins said. 'This work is my way of speaking up, and I hope it stirs something in you too. We still have time to protect what remains. Let's not wait.' Works on view and on the auction block represent a wide range of practices. Brooklyn-based Dustin Yellin, founder of multidisciplinary cultural center Pioneer Works, offers Help!, a suspended figure, with a large whole in its torso and arms bent at the elbows and hands pressed against a glass veneer sculpture. Evoking a perilous underwater scene, the artwork amplifies the need to raise global awareness and secure essential funding for protection and restoration of one of the most critically endangered ecosystems on Earth. The 'frozen cinema' sculpture – which embeds streaks of paint and a plethora of tiny clippings from magazines, art history books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and found notebooks into sheets of laminated glass – opens with a starting bid of €40,000 ($€40,000), on an estimate of €60,000 ($68,564) to €80,000 ($€40,000). Offering a brighter outlook, perhaps, See The Light by OSGEMEOS (a collaborative project of Brazilian twin brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo, whose moniker means 'the twins' in Portuguese) welcomes us into their fantastical, colorful, glimmering universe. It's as if the face is being transported to another planet by a spaceship crown. Bidding for the mixed media on wood artwork begins at €75,000 ($85,704), and it's expected to draw in between €125,000 ($142,841) and €150,000 ($171,401). 'This year's exhibition and auction is a beautiful initiative for inspiring the world to recognize the huge significance of these tiny beings for our oceans and planet,' OSGEMEOS said. 'We are thrilled to be part of this admirable initiative and to know that our artwork is going to help in some way.' 'This world is a mess, and while we are busy annihilating whole populations, it's easy to forget that we continue to destroy our planet.,' said Michelle Edelman, a member of the The Coral Collective board and founder of Traffic Arts. "Coral reefs are a vital life force. Just like the rainforests—they are essential to the health of our planet. I am deeply moved by the commitment of The Coral Collective and Project Zero to stay focused and do this important work, and extremely grateful to each individual who supports 36forCoral—the many exciting artists who contributed their inspiring work, and to the patrons who will buy it, or simply donate to the cause." Participating artists include: Akwetey Orraca-Tetteh, Alexis Rockman, Beth O'Donnell, Bradley Theodore, Britt Boutros-Ghali. Cavier Coleman, Charlotte Colbert, Deborah Kass, Francesco Clemente, Helen Beard, Henrietta Armstrong, Jemima Kirke, Jordan "Watts" Watson, Kevin Francis Grey, Manuela Zervadachi, Marc Quinn, Mauro Perucchetti, Nabil Nahas, Nana Funo, Petroc Sesti, Philip Colbert, RETNA, Rob and Nick Carter, Rocco Ritchie, Shezad Dawood, Sholto Blissett, Steve Hash, Tessa Campbell Fraser, Touils, Vik Muniz, and Walton Ford.
Chicago Tribune
14-04-2025
- Automotive
- Chicago Tribune
Waukegan Pace bus garage being renovated for new electric fleet; ‘This saves money and improves air quality'
By the end of the year, approximately half the Pace buses transporting people around the Waukegan area will be electric-powered and, by the end of 2027, diesel-fueled vehicles will be a thing of the past in the city for the suburban transportation company. The complete conversion of the fleet in Waukegan is part of Pace's Project Zero, making all buses in the company's six-county area around Chicago electric-powered by 2040. Maggie Daly Skogsbakken, Pace's chief communications officer, said it will be a boon for the environment. 'Not having any emissions going into the air is a good thing,' she said. 'Transportation companies like ours can improve the environment by taking cars off the road and now by removing emissions. This saves money and improves air quality.' Pace broke ground on the first phase of renovation of its north suburban bus garage on Friday in Waukegan, with plans to build a covered space for 12 charging stations to accommodate the new buses arriving by the end of the year. Skogsbakken said the fleet serviced out of the Waukegan garage on 10th Street is usually around 23 vehicles. By the end of December, 10 to 12 of them will be electric. Two years later, all 23 will be powered by electricity. When the second phase of the $92 million project is complete, she said the garage will be fully equipped to handle the entire electric line. Along with converting the facility into an all-electric one, additional improvements will be made to upgrade the aging building. A city with many workers who use public transportation, Skogsbakken said Waukegan was picked as the first area to go all-electric for a variety of reasons, including it being a victim of industrial pollution and disinvestment in the past. 'We always keep an eye on equity,' she said. 'This is an area where people depend on us most. We always want to be cognizant of that. The Waukegan garage helps us meet a lot of our goals because of the size of the fleet and the number of buses it operates.' Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart, D-Lake Bluff, has continually pushed for environmentally friendly measures throughout the county. She said this is a particularly good development for the area. 'We're grateful to Pace for putting electric buses in the Waukegan-North Chicago area,' Hart said. 'This will be a big step toward cleaner air in the area.' Using an all-electric fleet will bring a number of benefits to the Waukegan area already considered an environmental-justice community. Skogsbakken said the cost is less than half that of a diesel vehicle. The savings compound annually, helping 'reinvestment in service and sustainability.' Once the entire Pace fleet in Lake, Cook, McHenry, DuPage, Will and Kane counties is electric by 2040, Skogsbakken said in an email it will eliminate 900,000 tons of carbon from the atmosphere during the 12-year lifetime of the fleet. Along with drastically reducing fuel costs, she said the electric vehicles are less costly to maintain with a more simple propulsion system and fewer moving parts, requiring less time for servicing. Instead of service being needed every 3,000 miles, it is expected to be increased to a range of 15,000 to 20,000 miles. Originally Published:
Chicago Tribune
07-02-2025
- Automotive
- Chicago Tribune
Pace gets $27 million in state funds for zero-emission bus fleet; watching how climate funding unfolds under Trump
Amid President Donald Trump's efforts to slash the Green New Deal and federal funding for electric vehicle projects, Chicago-area public transportation agency Pace has announced a $36 million grant agreement with the state to support its commitment to transitioning to fully zero-emission buses by 2040. Under the agreement, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will contribute $27 million in funds and Pace will contribute the local share of $9 million to fund 27 new zero-emissions buses, Pace officials said Friday at the Pace Acceptance Facility in Markham. Each bus costs $1.3 million, Pace officials said. 'I want affordable, accessible transit to be an option for all, and to do so, we need to invest at every level in the system, and we need to accommodate growth without sacrificing sustainability or efficiency,' Gov. JB Pritzker said. 'Electric buses are vital to the future of transit.' The $27 million comes from the state's allocation from a multibillion-dollar national settlement with Volkswagen over the German automaker's emissions, including allegations the company sold 60,000 vehicles with software designed to cheat air-quality tests, according to the governor's office. 'It's refreshing to see how something that began as a challenge for Volkswagen has been turned into something positive,' Pace Executive Director Melinda Metzger said. Pace unveiled its commitment to transitioning to a fully zero-emissions fleet by 2040 through its Project Zero initiative, which started in 2022 with the delivery of Pace's first electric bus, the agency said. Pace's first electric fixed route bus went into service in January 2024 operating in the Southwest Division on Route 381 along 95th Street, which serves the southwest suburbs and Chicago's South Side. Pace executives said the second electric bus arrived in December 2024 and will be deployed soon. The agency also ordered an additional 22 electric fixed route buses expected to be delivered in 2025. Pace started moving toward cleaner vehicles in 2012 by introducing hybrid electric buses in Highland Park. Pace then began using compressed natural gas buses, which run on a cleaner-burning alternative to diesel, but still aren't as clean as electric buses. In 2016, the agency upgraded its South Division garage in Markham to support buses using compressed natural gas. Pace shifted course in 2021 to target all electric buses by 2040. The effort, however, comes with a hefty price tag. Metzger said the agency operates a fleet of about 800 buses, and significant funding is required to transition to an all-electric fleet and upgrade Pace's bus garages. Meeting the goals of Project Zero could cost an estimated $2.5 billion — $1 billion for the vehicles and $1.5 billion to upgrade the agency's 10 bus garages, according to Pace executives. Pace's North Division in Waukegan is scheduled to become a zero-emission-only facility in 2027, with the groundbreaking on the project taking place in spring 2025, according to Pace. With federal funding for environmental protections expected to be cut as Trump pushes a second-term agenda aimed at scaling back Biden's climate policies, Illinois EPA Acting Director James Jennings said he will continue to prioritize efforts to slow climate change. 'It's no secret that diesel emissions from soot emitting vehicles have a really problematic effect to the health of our citizens. It contributes to climate change. It contributes to long standing health impacts, including certain types of cancers,' Jennings said at the Markham facility Friday. As the state braces for potential changes, Metzger said Pace officials are waiting to see what actions Trump takes. 'We would like to see our federal money keep flowing, so right now we're watching it,' Metzger said. 'So far, our funding has continued to go through. We'll have to see what the new president does, we don't know.' In a wide-ranging executive order signed on his first day in office, Trump put an immediate pause to billions of dollars in funding allocated for EV charging stations appropriated through the climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, and the bipartisan infrastructure law approved in 2021. Trump's order said he would 'eliminate the electric vehicle mandate' and promote true consumer choice. The Federal Highway Administration released a memo Thursday directing states to halt the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, a $5 billion provision under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by then-President Joe Biden in 2021 to build electric vehicle chargers along major highways. 'We're hoping that we're going to continue down this road, but we're waiting to see,' Metzger said. 'Riding a bus is inherently better for the environment because you get 50 people on a bus, that's 50 cars off the road. So either way, we're ready to help the environment.'
