Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods To Honor Environmental Activists, Amory Lovins and Judy Hill Lovins
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods will honor leading environmentalists Amory Lovins and Judy Hill Lovins at its 36th annual Smith Nature Symposium & Benefit, Saturday, June 1, 2019.
The Symposium is a celebration of nature, the arts, and individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the science of conservation and deepened the study and understanding of the natural world.
"Brushwood Center is honored to recognize Judy and Amory with our distinguished environmental leadership award," said A. Gail Sturm, Chair of the Brushwood Board of Directors.
"Amory is a global sustainability trailblazer. He promoted the practice of energy efficiency long before it became corporate common sense. Judy has dedicated her life to revealing the beauty of our planet's natural areas through photography."
Lovins, a physicist, co-founded and chairs Rocky Mountain Institute, a 200-person independent nonprofit organization creating a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon energy future. He has served as energy advisor to major firms and governments in more than 70 countries and authored more than 30 books and 600 papers on energy. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, he has received the Right Livelihood Award, MacArthur Fellowship, Heinz Award, and National Design Award, among many others.
His wife Judy is a renowned landscape photographer. Her overriding goal, she says, is to "inspire, renew, and illustrate our role as stewards of nature's treasures." Also a fine art consultant, Judy has counseled private and corporate art collectors and designed interior photographic programs nationwide for nearly five decades.
NEW EXHIBITION WILL OPEN JUNE 1
Also launching on June 1 at Brushwood Center is an art exhibition entitled Global Perspectives featuring photography by both Lovinses as well as artwork by Gregory Leon Baird, John Wylie, and poet Ted Hazelgrove. Featured will be exotic images from China, Galápagos, Iceland, and Western United States, and other locales.
"The Lovinses' photography also focuses on extraordinary landscapes, wildlife, and cultures in Antarctica, Borneo, Colombia, Chile, Japan, Scandinavia, South Africa, and elsewhere," said Sturm.
The Symposium, which anticipates some 300 guests this year, memorializes the significant civic legacy of Hermon Dunlap and Ellen Thorne Smith, who donated their land and cabin to help form Ryerson Woods. The event is held in partnership with Lake County Forest Preserves.
The Distinguished Environmental Leadership Award was first presented in 1984 to Roger Tory Peterson, the esteemed American naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator. In 2018, recipients included Robert Redford and Sibylle Szaggars Redford, for their lifelong commitment to land preservation and climate change.
Introducing the award this year will be Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra, also the evening's masters of ceremonies. During dinner they will join the Lovinses on stage before the audience for a lively discussion of photography, climate change, and the future of energy.
All funds raised from the Symposium will directly benefit Brushwood Center's nature-inspired art, wellness, and education programs.
To purchase tickets to the Smith Nature Symposium & Benefit, visit www.brushwoodcenter.org.
ABOUT BRUSHWOOD CENTER
Nestled in 565 acres of pristine woodland in the historic Ryerson home in Riverwoods, Illinois, Brushwood Center promotes the importance of nature for nurturing personal and community wellbeing, cultivating creativity, and inspiring learning. In doing so, we honor the legacy of those who came before us to this land and champion a region where people will care about and for nature. Brushwood Center offers world-class programming with nearly 200 artists each year to deepen the public's connection with the environment in an intimate setting where nature, conservation and art coexist in their entire splendor. Our audiences include veterans, children, families, business people, and others looking to the arts as a pathway for connecting to nature throughout the region.