The Most Ambitious Art Project Ever? The Nonprofit ART 2030 Wants to Help the UN Build a More Sustainable World

The program coincides with the UN's General Assembly in New York this September.

A United Nations meeting in 2017. Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images.

The non-profit initiative ART 2030 certainly has a lofty set of goals. It’s aligning itself with the United Nations’s 17-point agenda for global sustainable development, which it aims to achieve by the year 2030.

The non-profit organization, started by Danish collector Luise Faurschou, aims to make UN goals such as poverty eradication, clean water access, and climate change reduction more accessible to everyday people. This fall in New York, the organization will host a series of events and commissioned artworks that coincide with the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly, from September 24 to 28.

“Looking around the world today I think it’s clear to all of us that we all need to use our strengths and competencies to chip in what we can,” Faurschou told artnet News. “To me the global goals is the best plan I’ve seen to pave a way for how we can all work together toward a more sustainable world.”

ART­ 2030 founder and director­ Luise Faurschou. Photo: Tine Harden.

ART 2030 is partnering with a number of prominent Chelsea galleries, including David Zwirner, Gagosian Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, and Luhring Augustine, to host exhibition openings and panel discussions. The project will take a different focus each day, such as equality, a healthy planet, and quality education.

“Art makes us connect to people and places that are far from us and transcends languages and borders—ultimately generating empathy for others,” said a statement from artist Danh Vo, who is listed as a “supporter” on the project’s website.


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