How Minnesota environmentalists use art to raise awareness

Some of Minnesota's most active environmentalists are artists. Whether poets or performers, visual artists or musicians, their work consistently focuses on environmental ills.

MPR News' Marianne Combs sat down with a group of such artists to talk about how they use their art to raise awareness of environmental issues that affect their communities:

• Writer and educator Louis Alemayehu explains how he uses storytelling and poetry to bring communities together around environmental concerns, including in an upcoming trip to Bangladesh.

• Visual artist Sarita Zaleha describes her projects "Mourning Global Warming" and "Collapse Clap" which use fabric and video to explore our emotional responses to environmental loss.

• Sandy Spieler, artistic director of In The Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, talks about the need for hope at a time when many feel the planet is beyond repair.