- Sponsor
- Krannert Art Museum & Climate Jobs Institute
- Contact
- Evelyn C. Shapiro
- kam@illinois.edu
- Phone
- 217-244-0745
- Originating Calendar
- Krannert Art Museum Events
- Life After Coal: Envisioning Just Transitions Across Borders
Transnational perspectives on post-industrial futures in the Americas
As coal declines globally, regions with coal mines and plants face urgent questions about economic survival, environmental remediation, and social justice. This panel, presented by the Climate Jobs Institute and Krannert Art Museum, brings together grassroots activists, community leaders, and engaged scholars from Illinois and Ohio in the U.S. and the Biobío region in Chile to explore how coal communities are shaping their own post-industrial futures. Centering lived experience, the discussion examines how cultural heritage, collective memory, and place-based knowledge serve as tools for economic renewal, political mobilization, and energy transition justice. The session also highlights the role of engaged research—collaborative, community-based scholarship that works alongside activists to document histories, strengthen organizing, and support locally defined development goals. Panelists include:
• Magdalena Novoa, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and Exhibition Curator
• Elizabeth Aguilera, Chilean activist and President of Mesa Ciudadana de Lota
• Emily Guske, Climate Jobs Institute
• Todd Lee, Vermilion County community member
• Jordan Woodward, Humanities Research Institute fellow
• Kellye Blosser, Little Cities of Black DiamondsThe panel will emphasize transnational solidarity and partnerships that bridge research and action to advance just transitions beyond coal.
Presented in conjunction with Memorias de la Mujer Lotina: Arpilleras, Women, and Coal in Chile, on view at Krannert Art Museum through Sep 5, 2026, and part of a Weeklong Residency with the Women's Collective from Lota, Chile (March 30–April 3).
Friday, April 3 | Women's Collective at Krannert Art Museum
10:30–11:30 – Artist Talk & Tour | Memorias de la Mujer Lotina
12:00–1:30 – Noontime Panel | Life After Coal
1:30–2:30 – ReceptionThe exhibition and residency are made possible with support from the Climate Jobs Institute, the Office for Arts Integration, the Leonard F. Heumann Fund, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, the Center for the Study of Global Gender Equity, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Latin American and Caribbean Cities Collective, the National Fund for Cultural and Arts Development of Chile, and the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD). Krannert Art Museum acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.