IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW WITH GREEN ATHENS FOUNDER

I am a Greek-American artist from San Diego, California and the founder of Phoenix Athens Gallery and Residency. A dual French/American citizen, I moved to Cyprus in 2005 and have now lived in Europe for over fifteen years a
After completing my postgraduate studies in London, I moved to Athens in 2017 in order to develop Phoenix Athens Gallery and Residency. The project combines my interest in art, ecology and education as well as my desire to connect with other artists and members of the creative community in Athens. 
Both prior to and during the pandemic of 2020, I decided to use my skills as a carpenter and gardener on the Green Athens initiative in order to “re-green” Athens and raise awareness about the benefits of green design solar energy development in Greece. Owing to its climate and natural resources, Greece has the potential to become a leader in renewable energy and sustainable resource management.
The project would allow me to apply my skills as a plantsman/gardener, designer and carpenter. The skills I have learned from these jobs have been vitally useful, helping me to manage and develop  for this role.
Green Athens started as an idea that I had when I was looking down at the city of Athens from Lycabettos hill and noticed that despite the blistering heat and vast amount of outdoor terrace, rooftop and balcony spaces on buildings, a large majority of these spaces were not being used. At street level, I also observed that many open garden spaces were also unused throughout the city. It occurred to me that this might present an opportunity for urban landscaping/gardening projects and possibly as well, future projects in the area of energy resource management.