Your Chicago / Q+A
Beauty in the Storm
T
HE MONSOON RAINS that sweep
across the high deserts of the Southwest every year have long held deep significance for Sibylle Szaggars Redford, the multimedia environmental artist and wife of Robert Redford. Drawing from this inspiration, Sibylle collaborated with musicians, dancers and other artists in works staged across the globe to conceive an interactive, 36 M AY/J U N E 2018 M A K E IT B E T T E R
interdisciplinary performance piece called The Way of the Rain, which raises awareness of climate change and invites the audience to remember their physical and spiritual connection to our planet’s beauty and plight. In 2015, the Sundance Film Festival presented The Way of the Rain as an official selection—and later that year, inspired by its impact and success, Sibylle established a New Mexico-based nonprofit, The Way of the Rain Inc..
Sibylle’s husband, the Academy Awardwinning actor and director Robert Redford, has been fighting for the planet for much of his adult life, protesting destructive coal mines in the American West and lobbying Congress on various environmental issues. He spoke at the COP 21 United Nations symposium on climate change in 2015, where President Obama negotiated the Paris Climate Accord.
KARSTEN STAIGER
Environmental activists and artists in their own right, Sibylle Szaggars Redford and Robert Redford combine forces to bring awareness of our planet’s greatest challenges. KARI LYDERSEN