FRESH: Ringling College Hosts Sustainability Celebration Of New Indie Film

Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota will be hosting a "Green & Gold" reception on Thursday, Oct. 14, at 5:30 pm to highlight a film screening and celebrate an achievement.

Sponsored by Whole Foods, Ringling's Digital Filmmaking Studio Lab will screen 'FRESH' a documentary that celebrates those who create a new green model for agriculture and environmental issues.

"The FRESH documentary film deals with agriculture and new ways to preserve our environment and produce healthy, local food supplies," says Richard Schineller, communications director for Ringling College.

Steve Michelson, executive producer of the film, will be in attendance and participating in a Q&A session following the film.

The "gold" part of the evening, will be the LEED Gold certification presentation ceremony for Ringling College's Academic Center and North Residence Hall. These are Ringling's first LEED Gold certified buildings.

The Academic Center, a 82,000-square-feet, five-story building, and the North Residence Hall, a 75,000-square-feet, five-story building, have received the certification due to attainment of high sustainability metrics. This includes water efficiency, optimized energy performance, CO2 emissions reduction, and more.

"We find that it's important for students to be educated on all aspects of efficient, environmentally sound design and we feel that these two buildings are very, good examples of excellence in design and excellence in environmental stewardship," says Schineller. Assessments are in process to get other Ringling buildings up to certification standards as well.

Architect Donald Lawson of The Lawson Group and Willis A. Smith Construction, Inc. respectively, designed and built both buildings. Lawson will present the certification during the "Green & Gold" reception.

"Both parts of the event speak to environmental stewardship," says Schineller. "The timing was such that it seemed to work well together and it's also of subjects of interest to both constituents."

To RSVP to the event, click here.

Writer: Nancy Vaughn
Source: Richard Schineller, Ringling College of Art & Design