We have all experienced, in our lifetimes, a seismic shift that has transformed human behavior and human consciousness, business and religion, entertainment and statesmanship, morality and functionality, romance and parenting, and – what is most significant in the present context – art and education. I am, of course, referring to the encroachment of electronics into every facet to human existence.  It is difficult to refer to this shift in the past tense since its reverberations continue undiminished. Indeed, they receive new impetus during each market cycle when speedier, mightier, more applicationed, and more networked devices are regularly introduced. Despite the anticipation and media attention that surround these events, our culture expects electronic innovation. It constitutes the current norm.

Humanity stands on a precarious brink as a new seismic wave surges across the globe. We will either tumble down the precipice of our own environmental indiscretions, or we will rise to the challenges posed by sustainable mandates. As has frequently been observed, it may be as difficult for us to imagine a sustainable society as it was for our ancestors to envision the petroleum-based, industrial society we currently occupy. Indeed, sustainable values and behaviors are so unlike recent experience that mapping humanity’s future through the 21^st century and beyond demands explorers, survey teams, researchers, visionaries, pioneers, and settlers. Most importantly, it needs educators and artists to help design and establish an enduring model for humanity.

The greatest barriers to erecting a sustainable society are habits and expectations that currently prevail. I am seeking strategies for college art instruction to contribute to the severing that precedes restructuring, and the introduction of new foundational values and practices that precede sustainability. These proposals must attempt to apply humanity’s privileges and responsibilities to be practice of art-making. What does this entail? They strive to go beyond ‘less harmful’. They even go beyond ‘not harmful’.  They aspire to include ‘benefit’. But even benefiting humanity may not suffice. It might include ‘restoration’ to undo past disturbances and ‘regeneration’ to compensate for past depletions.

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