CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.-Sustainable design attempts to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. Explore sustainability in its varied forms and local applications in this two-day laboratory on October 7-8, 2005, that develops and expands on the issues raised in the Smart Museum of Art's exhibition Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art (on view October 6, 2005 – January 15, 2006). Join exhibiting artists, architects, designers, activists, students, scholars and other members of the public for a series of activities including a lecture, discussions, and a hands-on workshop that addresses a specific community design challenge.

On Friday, October 7, at 6:30 pm, Australia-based Tony Fry will deliver the Art and Sustainability Laboratory's keynote address, entitled "Agony and Ecstasy: Challenges of Designing for Sustainment." A director of the design firm Team D/E/S, founder of the EcoDesign Foundation, and author of A New Design Philosophy: An Introduction to Defuturing, Fry will outline key concepts, challenges, and best practices within sustainable design. The lecture is free.

The following day from 10 am to 6:30 pm, a Community Design Workshop will take place at the University of Chicago's Midway Studios, 6016 S. Ingleside. After a morning of discussion and group brainstorming, architect Kevin Pierce of the architecture firm Farr Associates will lead participants in a hands-on workshop to envision new uses for the east end of Hyde Park's Midway Plaisance and adjacent areas. There is no cost to attend the Art and Sustainability Laboratory, but Saturday's workshop participants are requested to register in advance. For directions, information, and registration, call 773.834.7385 or visit http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/artandsustainability.

Co-organized by the Smart Museum of Art and iCI (Independent Curators International), New York, Beyond Green explores how the philosophy of sustainable design resonates with an emerging generation of international artists who combine a fresh aesthetic sensibility with a constructively critical approach to the production, dissemination, and display of art. The exhibition includes existing works, new commissions, and previously presented work that has been "recycled," including pieces by Allora & Calzadilla; Nils Norman; Dan Peterman; Michael Rakowitz; and Andrea Zittel.

The Art and Sustainability Laboratory is made possible by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. The exhibition Beyond Green and accompanying catalogue are made possible in part by the Smart Family Foundation; the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; and iCI Exhibition Partners Kenneth S. Kuchin and F. Bruce Anderson, and Gerrit and Sydie Lansing. Additional support is provided by the Arts Planning Council, the Environmental Studies Program, and the Green Campus Initiative, University of Chicago. Related programs in Chicago are made possible with additional support from the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

A portion of the Smart Museum’s general operating funds for 2005-2006 has been provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Smart Museum exhibitions and related programs are generously supported by the Smart Family Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Tom and Janis McCormick and the Kanter Family Foundation; Nuveen Investments; the Rhoades Foundation; the Eloise W. Martin Fund; the Office of the Provost and the Visiting Committee on the Visual Arts, University of Chicago; and the Friends of the Smart Museum. Education programs are made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts; the Polk Bros. Foundation, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; the Chicago Community Foundation; and Kraft Foods.