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​Schedule

​1:45PM-2:00PM — Check-In

​2:00PM-4:00PM — Featured Speakers & Public Art Tour

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​What is 'A Whole Different Ecosystem'

​‘A Whole Different Ecosystem’ is a one-day environmental justice & art conference weaved within a participatory performance art piece, where everyone—from panelists to attendees—has a role to play.

​AfroFuturists of Knox Collective is pioneering a new method of organizing environmental conferences by drawing inspiration from the 5 elements of hip hop — Knowledge, DJing, rapping, breaking, and graffiti — and their connection to the elements of nature. This conference is an ode to hip hop’s rich cultural legacy, using art as a tool to reinvigorate new frames of thought around environmental justice and the pressing issues that dramatically impact the colorful communities of Appalachia and beyond. The goal of this creative conference is to reignite these communities’ interest in the natural world through the lens of a Black art form that speaks to many walks of life.

​What makes this environmental justice and art conference truly unique will be the interactive components that intersect artists, sustainability experts, and conference goers. Tapping into the socially connective benefits of LARPing (Live-Action-Role-Play), this gathering will deconstruct complex climate and environmental topics using play, storytelling, and imagination to forge a non-traditional and innovative pathway towards eco-conscious discussions in a language and setting that favors learning over division.

​Who is hosting this event?

​​The AfroFuturists of Knox Collective is an emerging maker group of Black artists who are actively crafting world building opportunities that is grounded in uplifting the cultural expertise found in Black environmental heritage and customs in Knox Appalachia. Uniquely situated in East Tennessee, the rotating members of AfroFuturists of Knox Collective embrace their Southern roots and aim to create works of art and gatherings that acknowledge the past, make room for the present, and chart pathways forward into the rich and complex unknown. This year’s futurescoping members are: Knox Community Street Dance, The Bottom, and Good Guy Collective.

​​Who is sponsoring Act 2?

​​Act 2 is sponsored by UT GATOP.

​UT GATOP Arboretum & Education Center

​​Set on a hillside overlooking the Tennessee River and the Great Smoky Mountains, there is an estate of great historical and botanical interest named GATOP (God’s Answer To Our Prayers). Only three miles from downtown Knoxville, this 23-acre, heavily wooded, and extensively landscaped property is located close to land originally settled by the city’s forebears James White and George McNutt. GATOP, given its horticultural and historic features, in 2007, it became one of over 5,000 gardens listed in the Smithsonian Institute’s Archives of American Gardens. GATOP has provided its dwellers and many visitors a place to enjoy and appreciate nature and, most importantly, has served as an abiding source of serenity and spiritual renewal; furthermore, it will endure as the University of Tennessee GATOP Arboretum & Education Center and be part of the State of Tennessee Botanical Gardens.