We can stop making things worse. This 5 week challenge has simple, actionable steps. Baby steps, even, to transition your life to a sustainable one. Originally, in the form of an online course, I will provide them here in a series of blog posts. Welcome to week 1.

Week 1

Each week I assign several actionable tasks to address the areas where we pollute the most. By the end of the month, you will have the tools to lower your carbon footprint and stop supporting climate change. Thank you for participating in my climate challenge. I would say that you’re helping to save the Earth. The fact is, the Earth will keep spinning along without us. You’re helping to save us.

Give your wallet a carbon free makoever.

Step 1: Idenifty major Fossil Fuel funders in your wallet

On Arpil 6, 2022, a group of scientists in Los Angeles, CA handcuffed themselves to the CHASE building in Downtown LA in a plea to save our planet. Why did they choose CHASE?

CHASE is the number one supporter of fossil fuels. That’s right. The number one funder of climate change.

First, let’s look at popular banks and their contribution to fossil fuels.

“JPMorgan Chase lent over $195 billion to gas and oil companies.

For comparison, Wells Fargo lent over $151 billion, Citibank lent over $129 billion and Bank of America lent over $106 billion. Since the Paris climate accord, which 195 countries agreed to in 2015, JPMorgan Chase has been the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels by a 29 percent margin.”ı

• JP Morgan CHASE
• Wells Fargo
• Citibank
• Bank of America

What about Bank of the West?

Nearly all banks use greenwashing in their marketing, especially Bank of the West. It is possible that strictly in US, Bank of the West does as it claims. However, their owner, BNP Paribas, is the biggest funder of fossil fuels in the European Union.

Next, let’s take a look at truly green banking options.

sources and further reading

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2021/03/24/climate-chaos-ngos-name-top-banks-who-put-38-trillion-into-fossil-fuels/?sh=7defe22f5533

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/24/big-banks-trillion-dollar-finance-for-fossil-fuels-shocking-says-report

Step 2: Choose your favorite convenient green bank.

• Online Bank
• Local Credit Union
• Local Bank

Online Bank Account

The online bank Aspiration is incredibly easy to set up, and it’s part of their mission statement not to fund fossil fuels. I moved my money to an Aspiration account before I decided to open a credit union account. If you don’t have time to research your local credit unions now, you can open an Aspiration account immediately.

Credit Union

Credit unions exist only for and because of their members. They are member owned and tend to invest their money on the surrounding community. Credit unions are non profits, and they pass savings onto their members in the form of higher returns. They invest in the local community, not fossil fuels.

I wanted a location I could ride my bike or walk to, so I used Google maps to find credit unions near me. You can do the same by clicking here: https://www.google.com/search?q=credit+union+near+me

Green local bank near you

Bank For Good is an organization that makes it easy to find a local bank that does not support climate change:

Mighty Deposits makes it possible to search for banks that do not fund fossil fuels, and that support causes you are interested in like investing in low income communities.

https://mightydeposits.com

Which banking option and location did you choose?

Step 3: Open your new bank account

In about 10 minutes, you’ll breathe easy knowing your money no longer supports fossil fuels, the number one contributor to global warming.

Couldn’t decide? Simply open an Aspiration account here. You can always move to a credit union or local bank later. Right now, the important thing is to stop funding climate change.

Now, go to your chosen credit union or bank’s page and open an account.

Even my small credit union made it easy to open an account online within minutes, and Aspiration’s format was even faster. See, I opened my Aspiration account first so I could quickly move my money away from CHASE.

Step 4 Move Your Money

You are almost done with this week’s climate challenge. Wow. You will no longer be a financial backer of climate change. Be proud.

IMPORTANT: Keep a cushion in your old, global warming bank account to pay your bills for a couple of weeks. Consider moving savings first. Naughty banks do not want you to leave, so they will take the full 3-4 days to transfer your money to your new account.

In your global warming bank account, you will need to go to Transfers > Add an External Account 

Here you will add your new account and routing numbers. If you opened an Aspiration account, they will be under your name on the top right > settings > account info.

Your old bank may take a few days to test and acknowledge your new account. Once they do, transfer your money using the Transfer tab on your new or old bank account.

If you opened a credit union or local bank account, they will be able to help you with this process. Or, do it yourself. All you need is your account and routing number.

Congratulations! You no longer invest in climate change! 

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It’s the newly emergent artist conundrum: to get into shows, you need a resume; to have a resume, you need to be in shows. I started my career as an artist thousands of miles from where I attended art school. I had no connections in town. Here are some of the things I did to meet peers and start showing right away.

Don’t knock the internet.

When I first came to town, the only art show applications I had access to were on Craigslist. The first shows I participated in were through calls for art. I hung larger than life nudes at a comedy show. I met an energetic young woman who put on shows at bars and clubs and house parties. Maybe more people should throw an art filled house party. I made my first sale, 7 paintings, in a Venice home. My only real advice is to avoid non established “opportunities” that require you to pay to show.

Follow the spaces you want to show and keep and eye out for ways in.

As I became more familiar with the Los Angeles art scene, I stopped scrolling Craigslist and found other places to watch for opportunities. I joined mailing lists for all kinds of spaces around me; high end galleries, libraries, coffee shops, retail shops that also display art, and neighborhood art walks. This approached added several lines to my resume.

Galleries often host events for charities, and these charities seek art donations for supporters to bid on. Catching these events and donating art for a good cause added 2 galleries to my resume. I recommend supporting operations who give the option of taking only a 50% commission, and who return unsold work. You can decide what cut you want to give, but we have to be careful not to devalue our work along the way.

Start an artists group.

Having an artist group makes you more likely to get the entry level opportunities you apply for. Unconventional spaces seeking art don’t want to coordinate with multiple artists because it’s time consuming. So they’ll opt for the artist group. My art group was able to secure a regular space in a business along an walk and once, we were able to quickly fill a last minute vacancy in a gallery because we had the work ready to fill the space. As a group we efficiently handled everything for the spaces we showed in and we even spackled when we were done. We were called Circa Artists. Having a cool name helps, too.

I really wanted to be a part of a show at a beautiful local library, but my work never fit their calls for art. One day, the city hosted an art fair, and artists who were a part of the fair were invited to hang one work in the library. I submitted my artist group to host a booth at the fair, and we all got a nice new line on our resume.

Put on your own show.

I’ve hung more group shows than I can count, in spaces like hair salons, real estate offices, warehouses, and recording studios. Fellow artists who are just starting out are glad to have an opportunity to show, and are usually happy to help hang and bring some booze for the reception. While living in Atwater Village, I put a show together for artists I met in my neighborhood called “Atwater Village Artists”. It hung for a month at the local wine bar, and Will Sasso even showed up at the reception.

Visit the places you want to show.

You’ve heard this one. But here’s the difference. Don’t just attend openings. Look out for events and find ways to support the space. Attend a portfolio review. Purchase gifts from their shops. Retweet them. Attend figure drawing session. Bring your friends along.

Things you can put on your resume that you may not have considered.

If you went to art school, did your class hang work in a campus gallery? This show can go on your resume. Did you put paintings up in your aunt’s office? I once hung a painting at my dentist’s office. The line on your resume might not get you into the Gagosian, but early in your carreer, a record of relationships and evidence of shows shows gumption, and that’s not a bad thing. It will get you into the next show. Eventually, you will be curating which lines you keep in your resume.

Teaching an art related class is another great way to beef up the resume. It may not be an art show (though it could always lead to one), but it establishes you as an art professional. You can teach online through venues like Skillshare, or, through a barter system like Tradeschool LA. I’ve added things like judging an art walk and speaking about creativity in business to a business 101 class to my resume

Don’t assume you can’t get into something or that you’re not ready.

Looking back, I can see where my assumption that a gallery owner or a curator wouldn’t consider me yet prevented me from showing in the spaces I wanted to sooner. While you shouldn’t expect something from or annoy an art world professional you look up to, don’t let your own assumptions keep you down. I had a couple of opportunities where people were interested in my work, but I told them I wasn’t ready, and would reach out when I was. By the time I was ready, one place had retired, and the other person had forgotten me entirely! I still kick myself. My earlier work wasn’t yet where I wanted it to be, but people responded to it, and looking back, I can see that it was good.

My unconventional art exhibition journey enabled me to get to know the city in a way I never would have otherwise, which informs my art making today. It also introduced me to so many of LA’s underground visual artists and to alternative exhibition spaces, where my work has historically sold better. I know how hard it is to create and sustain an art career by one’s own bootstraps . Fortunately, the people you meet along the way become your contemporaries and over time you rise together.

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