Land Art Generator Initiative

Robert Ferry, RA, LEED AP BD+C (Principal & Co-Founder LAGI) is the Co-Founder of the Land Art Generator Initiative and Studied Impact. His focus is on designing buildings that go above and beyond current popular notions of sustainability to achieve complete harmony with their local and global environments and with the people that use them. His designs of “positive-impact” buildings that double as renewable energy power-plants have been featured in “Superlative Emirates” (Daab Publishing), several Popular Science Magazine articles, and have been shown at international exhibits. The Land Art Generator Initiative has been in feature articles in numerous international press outlets, including The New York Times and Dwell Magazine. While based in the UAE, he has consulted on such projects as Masdar City and ADNOC HQ. Robert is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and a licensed architect.

Elizabeth Monoian (Principal & Co-Founder LAGI) is the founder and director of Society for Cultural Exchange (SCE). As the director of SCE she is committed to nurturing global intellectual and creative dialogue. She is currently working on large-scale international public art projects that both address and expose models of environmental sustainability.

Under SCE she co-founded the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI), an international initiative activating interdisciplinary teams to conceive of large-scale public artworks for specific sites that artfully provide utility-scale clean energy to the city grid. The project combines renewable infrastructure design with international cultural exchange and community educational outreach. The project has been featured in articles in numerous international press outlets, including The New York Times and Dwell Magazine.

Elizabeth is an interdisciplinary artist and designer and her work has been screened and exhibited in venues throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. She received an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University and is currently an Assistant Professor at Zayed University in Dubai.

Paul Schifino (Board Member, Society for Cultural Exchange) received his degree in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1979. Mr. Schifino’s work has been published in design publications including: Communication Arts (CA), Graphis, Print, How, and ReadyMade magazine. His art has been included in shows at the Andy Warhol Museum (AMP), the Mattress Factory (Gestures #4 and #14 ), TRAF Gallery (By Design), and the TRAF (Best of Pittsburgh Show.)

Mr. Schifino has served as president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and is a former Advisory Board member of the American Shorts Reading Series, and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He currently serves on the Board of the Society for Cultural Exchange.

Deborah Hosking
(Board Member, Society for Cultural Exchange)
Deborah has lived, worked and exhibited in New York, Hong Kong, Paris, Los Angeles and, since 2005, Pittsburgh. Initially a painter, she now works in digital photography and video. She has awards to her credit in each medium, and a number of her photographs are currently included in an exhibition in the American Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic.

Deborah served as production designer for the short films The Specials and Lightweight, which she also co-wrote. She holds a BFA from Carnegie-Mellon and an MFA in Film & Digital Media from Chatham University.