Art and Sustainability, Part 3: The Technician

At the Executive Master of Natural Resources program at Virginia Tech, I am encouraged to “lead from where I am.” But what does this mean for those of us in the arts - right down to those choosing the size of nails and materials used, all while balancing a budget to make a theater’s ends meet? In the heart of the theater world, where every performance is a delicate balance of creativity, logistics, and a struggle for funding, sustainability tends to take a backseat.

I knew heading into the next interview with Professional Set Designer, Lawrence E Moten III, that it would be different from other interviews. Art can easily give hope, ideas, and people willing to give the deepest parts of themselves. It is the “how” and “how much” where theaters, like many other institutions as well as individuals, get stuck. Lawrence’s perspectives provide a vital piece to the puzzle of the challenges theaters face to be able to thrive sustainably in the Anthropocene.

Human Sustainability

During our interview, Lawrence jumped right in by framing sustainability in two distinct but interconnected ways. “The first would be human sustainability, and the second would be material sustainability,” he explains. “This distinction is crucial, as it not only addresses the environmental impact of theater productions, but the actual human cost of theater - or the overlooked issue of the industry’s demands on its workforce. Live performance as a whole is unsustainable to the human body, to the human psyche, to who we are as social creatures. It asks everything and gives nothing in return.” What does he mean by this? Lawrence goes on to explain, “It asks you to miss friends' weddings and work on weekends. It asks you to miss holidays and birthdays. It asks you to give every part of yourself to be the “starving artist,” to be able to validate who you are, and does not give you the time to enjoy your life. It does not give you days off. It does not give you peace of mind. It does not give you financial stability. And until we figure that part out, I don't know that material sustainability is possible.” This is a rarely spoken but hugely valuable point. Although some theaters may have the means to think of the larger picture, most theaters tend to scrape by and are composed of people who stay in the industry “because of their passion.” 

Lawrence goes on to explain that the COVID-19 pandemic not only stopped live theater, and the post-COVID funding that once was, has now dried up, but it also brought on a two-year period to reconsider career paths, which led to a significant loss of workforce and institutional knowledge. “The healthy estimate is that we lost 60% of the workforce. And the healthier estimate is that we lost, I would say, 80% of the institutional knowledge across the industry.”

Storage vs. Sustainability

Lawrence is candid about the challenges of recycling and use of green materials. “Very few theater practitioners are engaging in sustainability for scenery because everything we build is so custom. The bespoke nature of theater set construction means that reusing materials can be difficult and often impractical due to the lack of storage space and the financial burden it imposes.”

Lawrence poignantly describes how many theaters, especially those with limited budgets, find it cheaper to discard sets rather than to store and reuse them. “Storage space gets expensive because the real estate to maintain that storage is often more expensive than the savings you incur…. A $10,000 budget for set per show over the course of a six show season - so $60,000 - would still be cheaper than the property tax, the rental, the cost of air conditioning, and making sure that a place stays humidity controlled. Humidity is the biggest destructor of furniture or wood or any of those supplies. You have to keep materials temperature controlled and humidity controlled, otherwise they'll rot.”

Props

“Props are more frequently reused because they are more universal and easier to store. These are the things that we reuse in terms of furniture, in terms of tables, cups, glasses, etc… A decent theater across the United States will have a large props storage. As viewers, we accept some major silhouettes as being period appropriate and you can get by. The place in the world of scenery that you get the most reuse is in the world of props.”

This reuse of props demonstrates a practical aspect of sustainability in theater that could potentially be expanded to other areas with the right infrastructure and investment. Investing in modular set designs and versatile materials can allow for easy disassembly and reconfiguration, enabling multiple productions to share components. Collaboration between theaters to create a network for sharing and exchanging props and set pieces can further enhance sustainability practice. And providing training for staff and encouraging creative solutions to reuse material can help embed sustainability into the core operations of theater production.

Recycling

One of the most significant hurdles in achieving material sustainability is the complexity and labor involved in recycling certain materials. “Let's take a more intricate scenery piece where there is potentially a ton of lumber to be extracted. Because we use wood glue, which binds wood at a molecular level, ripping those materials apart to find what is usable becomes a much harder endeavor. So then you're spending the money on the labor to take it apart rather than just getting clean new lumber off of a truck that's been delivered to start over again. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but it is something we are struggling with in sustainability practices in the arts. Often it's just cheaper to throw it away. And so sustainability becomes not only a practice, but a financial investment that takes work and planning for many of these institutions. I worked with one institution that decided it is more expensive to maintain a props storage than it is to fully prop shows from zero and then sell everything off later or throw it away. They have zero prop stock. When I design at a university, however, they will work with me to make material choices so that they can reuse the material for later shows.”

Foam Blues

When asked what is the biggest culprit in unsustainable practice when it comes to materials - such as wood waste or chemical paint - his answer is blue foam. “We often will get things custom cut out of foam to make molding profiles. Or we'll carve foam to make giant heads. It's easy to procure and easy to manipulate. You can start to use it in a myriad number of ways. You can carve it, you can smooth it out. You can take a hot knife to it and cut it, and it melts away. If my colleagues and I talk about sustainability, the one that we all grapple with is foam - blue foam, pink foam, styrofoam - any of those things that we use. And that plastic product doesn't decompose. That's the thing that we haven't found a solution for.”

Sustainability leadership looks at the wicked challenges that lie at the heart of the plastics industry. Bioplastics typically have a higher carbon footprint when it comes to production, and regular plastics are cheaper being derived from petrochemicals and sourced from the plentiful crude oil and natural gas industries. The price difference for cleaner foams is to be seen and felt. For those interested, Mushroom Foam and Algae-based Foam generally have the lowest carbon footprints among the eco-friendly foams. Mushroom Foam is produced from agricultural waste and mycelium, which requires minimal energy, water, and chemicals to grow. Additionally, the process sequesters carbon as the mycelium grows. Algae-based foam production often involves cultivating algae in controlled environments that can utilize CO2 as a growth input, effectively capturing carbon from the atmosphere. Algae grows quickly and efficiently, requiring fewer resources compared to traditional crops. The overall process can have a net positive effect on carbon sequestration.

Individual vs. Community

Despite the daunting challenges, Lawrence remains hopeful about the future of sustainable practices in theater. He emphasizes the importance of institutional support and the need for a cultural shift towards valuing sustainability in the arts. “Is it worth staying at an institution and advocating for sustainability? Absolutely. But there are going to be wins and losses. It is going to take a lot of groundwork and a lot of institutional change.”

Lawrence’s insights extend beyond theater, offering valuable lessons for any industry grappling with sustainability. He advocates for a broader understanding of sustainability that includes not just materials but also the well-being of individuals. “The biggest thing that comes up against sustainability… is individualism.” When asked how the arts could contribute to sustainability, Lawrence believes that the arts can foster a sense of community and collective responsibility. “Our brief as artists is to remind people of their humanity, as well as the community that they belong to and should be willing to partake in.”

As we move forward, the lessons from Lawrence’s career remind us that sustainability in the arts is not just about materials but about people, values, and the choices we make. Are theaters willing to make sure their actions offstage reflect the messaging they provide us onstage? It’s tough to say. I will end by saying, however, that nobody knows better how to write a grant than artistic organizations... could this be a place to start with a job in sustainability that might pay for itself?