WHAT WE DO
Climate
Public
Art
TRAction is a dynamic collective of interdisciplinary artists who actively and publicly address issues of climate justice.
Although the projects are primarily facilitated and organized by Melanie Kloetzel and Kevin Jesuino, TRAction expands and contracts to include other interested allies, professionals, scientists, volunteers and artists who work at the intersection of art-making and climate change. Using diverse methods of artistic creation, TRAction addresses complex environmental issues and advocates for climate justice for all humans and species.
TRAction aims to generate, respond to and incite active and open dialogue with the public through a myriad of artistic mediums, including contemporary performance, street theatre, posters, site dance, installation, publications, parades, blogs, graffiti, ritual, festivals, and more.
TRAction envisions a future where all species have the right to a safe and healthy environment, a future where society values the role that art has in creating lasting and meaningful change.
WHO WE ARE
Melanie Kloetzel (MFA, PhD) is a settler performance maker, scholar and educator based in Treaty 7 territory (Moh’kinsstis/Calgary). Co-artistic director of TRAction and artistic director for kloetzel&co., she is committed to research that spans stage, site, and screen. Employing practice-as-research methodologies, Kloetzel develops events, workshops and encounters in theatre spaces, alternative venues, spaces of public assembly, and online environments. Her three books - the co-edited anthology Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces (2009), the co-authored (Re)Positioning Site Dance: Local Acts, Global Perspectives (2019), and the co-authored Covert -A Handbook: 30 Movement Meditations for Resisting Invasion (2021) - are currently available from University Press of Florida, Intellect, and Triarchy, respectively. Kloetzel is a professor of dance at the University of Calgary. www.kloetzelandco.com
Kevin Jesuino is a Portuguese-Canadian queer multidisciplinary artist, facilitator, teacher, arts producer and community organizer working in performance and socially engaged art. He is based in Mohkinsis of Treaty 7 territory, also known as Calgary, Canada. His work is oftentimes collaborative, site-specific, participatory, and process-oriented. His practice explores the intersection of the body, society and place. His recent research explores the queer body, ecology, fragility and modes of being together. His community-embedded projects engage participants in performative actions, discussions, creative interventions, activations and other forms of organizing -- positioning art & culture as a vehicle for meaningful social change. www.kevinjesuino.com