Episode 59: Joan Root Ericksen

Host Ed Sutkowski talks with Joan Ericksen, an artist who, with her husband Robert, co-founded the Sun Foundation, an organization designed to unite the arts and environmental sciences through educational programs, services, and cooperative efforts for artists, local arts organizations, schools, and the general public.

Joan's life began in the South Side of Chicago and now exists on 1,200 acres of woods and farmlands that also house the teaching facility occupied by The Sun Foundation which she and her husband, Robert C. Ericksen, co-founded in 1973. Joan received her Master's from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and her Bachelor's in Education from Northern Illinois University. She has studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, and The Art Institute of Chicago. Joan details her lifelong commitment to learning and the advancement of the arts and environmental sciences in underserved rural and urban communities.

In this conversation, Joan, a professional artist and teacher, discusses Professor Howard Gardner's book, Intelligence Reframed, the importance of multiple intelligence, her journey to Central Illinois and the Foundation's mission: to advance the arts and environmental sciences in underserved rural and urban communities by providing quality, innovative and interdisciplinary programs, services community arts access, financial support and cooperative efforts for artists, local arts organizations, schools, underserved populations and the general public.