On March 20, 2024, in conjunction with the exhibition Santiago Sierra: 52 Canvases Exposed to Mexico City's Air, panel participants from a range of fields, including art history, environmental studies, engineering, and public health came together to discuss how visual representations of environmental contamination function to encourage contemplation of the viewers’ position within a polluted world as well as the tensions that arise from such representations.

Speakers included Ila Sheren, associate professor of Art History & Archaeology in Arts & Sciences and associate director for the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity; Suzanne Loui, lecturer in Environmental Studies in Arts & Sciences; and Jay Turner, head of the Division of Engineering Education, Vice Dean for Education, and James McKelvey Professor of Engineering Education.

This event was supported in part by Washington University’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, and Center for the Environment.