Arlene Birt

A ‘visual storyteller,’ artist and information designer, Arlene Birt is fascinated by the idea that we are endlessly tied to the world through the objects that we consume. Arlene’s work frames every-day actions within the con text of the big picture in order to communicate consumers' roles in social and ecological sustainability. Her work on sustainability –which rides the line between art and education– has been featured in Creative Review (UK), U.S. News and World Report, BusinessWeek.com, worldchanging.com, SEED Magazine, and at the Barcelona Design Museum. Arlene has received a Fulbright fellowship, a 2010 Art(ists) on the Verge fellowship, several art grants and was a finalist for the prestigious 2010 Bush Fellowship. She holds a masters from Design Academy Eindhoven (NL) and now lives in Antwerp. She teaches design techniques to communicate sustainability and Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (online: US), researches info design for sustainability and works with companies to improve their sustainability communication. www.backgroundstories.com