Art in Action: USC Event Calls for an Urgent Green Energy Transition

At the University of Southern California (USC), the Visions and Voices event El Respiro / Respire will transform McCarthy Quad into a stage for climate justice activism. Led by artist and USC alumna Carolina Caycedo, participants will form a human "geochoreography," spelling out “Just Transition Now” in English and Spanish to demand an urgent shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The performance, captured by drone photography, highlights the intersection of art, activism, and environmental justice, with Caycedo emphasizing that a just transition must be inclusive of all workers, communities, and nations. The event, co-organized by the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability, will also include a panel discussion on just energy transition, featuring experts from various disciplines.

As reported by Rachel B. Levin, the initiative is part of Caycedo’s broader project, We Place Life at the Center, which encompasses exhibitions, publications, and educational programs focused on ecological movements. Preceding the performance, grassroots environmentalists and artists from the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean will participate in a four-day retreat at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island. This gathering serves as a space for knowledge exchange and reflection, reinforcing the importance of collective action in addressing climate change. The exhibition, which first opened at the Vincent Price Art Museum, spotlights community-led sustainability efforts, underscoring the necessity of a holistic approach that includes sustainable land and water stewardship, food-system changes, and Indigenous knowledge.

For Caycedo, bringing the event to USC is an opportunity to bridge academic research with real-world activism. By engaging students and faculty, she aims to foster new networks of solidarity that extend beyond campus and into broader environmental justice movements. She also sees the geochoreography as a moment for participants to reflect on their role in climate action, using USC’s core values as a lens to consider their connection to the land, community, and global ecological systems. Unlike traditional gallery exhibitions, Caycedo envisions the drone image generated from the event as a tool for advocacy, widely shared across social media to amplify the call for an equitable and immediate transition to green energy.