Just Transition Visioning Project

Art allows us to dream that another region and world is possible.

Northwest Indiana has existed as a region dominated by the extractive economy for well over a century and is one of the largest fossil fuel industry corridors on the planet.

However, we believe that communities deserve the ability to dream that a new world and region is possible, one free from pollution, where everyone has access to clean air, water, and soil and family-sustaining, union jobs that usher in a renewable and regenerative economy.

The Visioning Project is a new program launched by JTNWI and partner artists to dream of a Just Transition for the region through art workshops and many other visionary activities. Learn more about the launch via our virtual kickoff event.

A Just Transition is about transforming an unjust past and present into a human-centered future where the planet and everyone is taken care of, and no one is left behind.

Meet Our Partner Artists

William Estrada

William Estrada (he/him) grew up in California, Mexico, and Chicago. His teaching and art-making practice focus on addressing inequity, migration, historical passivity, and cultural recognition in historically marginalized communities. He documents and engages experiences in public spaces to transform, question, and make connections to established and organic systems through discussion, creation, and amplification of stories through creativity already present. He is currently a faculty member at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) School of Art and Art History and a Teaching Artist at Telpochcalli Elementary School. For more info about William, visit werdmvmntstudios.com, and follow William’s work via his Instagram.
Kaitlyn Stancy

Kaitlyn Stancy (she/her) is an artist and designer in Northwest Indiana. She believes in the power of transforming the world through creative response. While utilizing printmaking, photography, collage, and digital manipulation techniques, she makes work that ranges from documentary photography and abstract mixed media full of colors and textures to compositions alluding to otherworldly theories, pollution, deception, satire, and social commentary. She currently teaches graphic design at Indiana University Northwest (IUN) and does freelance work on the side. For more info about Kaitlyn, visit kaitlynstancy.com, and follow Kaitlyn’s work via her Instagram.
Emily Essling

Emily Essling (she/her) is an artist in Northwest Indiana who lives tucked back in a cabin in the woods. When she's not chilling on the shores of Lake Michigan, working in the garden, or cuddling her dog Unz, Emily hand carves linocut prints and makes jewelry inspired by the beach. Her art is influenced by nature, which she loves, and social injustices, which she hates. She believes that the beauty of art is that it can connect so many different issues and bring so many different people together. In times like these, we need to connect and build community however we can. Follow Emily’s work via her Instagram.

Read Our Visioning Project Exhibition Booklet to Learn About the Featured Artists and Their Work

July 26-August 31, 2024, JTNWI hosted the works of nearly 30 artists at Paul Henry’s Art Gallery in Hammond, encompassing filmmakers, a dancer, photographers, painters, graphic designers, printmakers, mixed media artists, textile artists, and poets, telling stories of the region and envisioning a sustainable, regenerative future through art and rooted in environmental justice. Learn all about the exhibition and the featured artists’ works by checking out the booklet below.