Impact of the SOU Institute for Applied Sustainability’s Innovation Fund will be on display when an exhibition of the Recology Ashland-SOU Artist-in-Residency program opens on Friday, May 17, at the university’s Temporary Sculpture Garden.

Recology Ashland partnered with SOU student artists last year to raise public awareness of environmental needs, such as reduction of waste sources, recycling and resource conservation. The award-winning program, led by SOU sculpture professor Michael Parker, helps students learn about turning waste into art, by using materials found at Recology’s Valley View Transfer Station to create works of art.

This week’s show marks the second year of the residency program, and features work by student artists Adam Garrett, Cameron Daniel Whiting, Carli Lamberto, Mel Villarreal and Naia Duggan.

The artists’ work will be featured from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday at the temporary public sculpture garden near SOU’s Center for the Visual Arts, the halls of Susanne Homes Hall Two & Three, the Sculpture Studio and the CVA Galleries. The show will celebrate the community collaboration and innovative solutions of the five artists.

The SOU Institute for Applied Sustainability was created in September 2022 as part of a $12 million gift to the university from Lithia Motors and its GreenCars division. The overall gift included $4 million to establish the SOU Institute for Applied Sustainability, which works with Lithia on initiatives including an academic credential in corporate sustainability, a national sustainability demonstration site, a sustainability conference and the IAS Innovation Fund – which offers micro-grants for innovative projects by SOU faculty and staff, such as the Recology Artist-in-Residency program.

The micro-grants are intended to serve as strategic investments, supporting SOU’s sustainability efforts and setting the stage for longer-term funding opportunities.