Art, Culture Change, Sustainabilty: The Work of Terry O’Day

Abstract

Issues of sustainability are central to the life and work of artist Terry O’Day. Her deep concern with our dysfunctional relationship to the planet, and her strong desire to fundamentally alter that relationship, drive much of her activity. Through her current artistic practice, O’Day strives to generate substantial shifts in thought and action within her local community, thereby moving it toward a more sustainable future. While her methodology may not at first clearly identify itself as art, it does indeed have ties to her more traditional ways of art making, and illustrates how artists, as culture workers, can effect significant cultural change.