From June-September 2007, the City of Chicago will host “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet,” an innovative project that uses the medium of public art to inspire individuals and organisations to take action against global warming. Developed by environmental activist Wendy Abrams in 2006, the exhibit will feature more than 120 sculpted globes, each five feet in diameter, displayed along Chicago’s lakefront from the Field Museum north to Navy Pier. Using a variety of materials to transform their plain white sphere, designers are challenging the public to tackle the problem of global warming through the potential solutions depicted on their globes. Icsid Member, Yair Engel, of the Israel Community of Designers is one of the featured designers, drawn to the project as an opportunity to highlight over-consumption in our society.


Photo by Buzz Orr. Globe and Mr. Engel's participation sponsored by The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies and GEF - The Green Environment Fund in Israel.

Leading by example, Cool Globes is a carbon neutral project. To offset the carbon emitted from the energy needed to create and maintain the exhibit and related events, Cool Globes has developed a diversified strategy that includes donated “green tags” (renewable energy certificates), investments to plant trees and foster environmentally friendly agricultural practices, and in-kind donations from alternative energy companies.

For more information, please visit www.coolglobes.org