Recently, a few local environmental activists and I founded the Central Florida Climate Artists Group (click here for Facebook group page), which is planning a series of environmentally-themed art shows throughout central Florida. We plan to have environmental-themed art shows throughout central Florida in the next few years. COVID has limited us in terms of being able to have live art shows and openings, but we are taking advantage of online platforms for dissemination. Our goal is to use art to improve climate and environmental education, which are issues that should concern us all since they threaten our long-term survival and prosperity regardless of political affiliation.
Last December, we had our first online art show hosted by the City of Casselberry on their website. This year we are happy to report that we are having our second environmental art show at the Orlando Science Center (OSC) Fusion Gallery. The art show is sponsored by the Cleo Institute and will include both performance and 2D fine art components. The show will run from May 21st until August 22nd. At the bottom of this blog post, you will find a copy of our call for artists.
We were asked by the OSC how this exhibition relates to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) and below is our response. Watch this space for additional blog posts about climate change and art!
“The science of climate change is unequivocal. It is based on analyses of the long-term observational record as well as climate modeling where scenarios of increasing greenhouse gas emissions show widespread global warming and long-term changes in many aspects of our climate. These changes threaten the future of our civilization. Climate models are run on super-computers and use numerical solvers to solve approximate versions of advanced mathematical equations based on the fundamentals laws of physics, fluid motion, and chemistry. These models allow for the simulation of different scenarios based on changes in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from a variety of possible socio-economic futures. They also allow us to assess how technological innovations to reduce emissions could alter our future path. Some of the more extreme climate predictions may verge on catastrophic and we as humans often prefer to ignore them and continue living our lives as usual. However, climate action requires both an activist community pushing our government to address the climate emergency and changes in our own lifestyle. Without being fully aware of what is at stake we cannot be fully effective in achieving these goals. Art has historically served a purpose in communicating difficult subjects to a diverse audience and has been behind many prominent activism movements. We hope this art show will present a variety of perspectives on how humans are dealing with the climate crisis, their thoughts and emotions on the subject, how they perceive the problem and its solutions.”
Earth’s Voice: An Environmental Art Exhibition
Call for Visual Artists for a juried environmental art show at the Orlando Science Center (OSC)
brought to you by the Central Florida Climate Artists and the Cleo Institute
Exhibition dates: May 21-Aug 22, 2021
Entry guidelines:
*2D artwork following environmental and climate change themes will be considered. Some sample topics include the climate crisis, environmental degradation, environmental justice, the nature/culture binary, interspecies interdependence, co-existence, co-evolution, degradation, restoration, biodiversity, species loss, circular economy, recycling, plastic pollution, fossil fuel pollution, sea level rise, art made out of recycled materials, clean energy and other solutions to environmental problems, etc.
*2D artwork must be smaller than 6 ft x 6 ft
*Artwork must be family-friendly. No nudity, no profanity. Political artwork will be evaluated by the jurors to determine if eligible for display. All juror decisions are final and cannot be reversed.
*In an effort to provide opportunities for as many artists as possible we are limiting submissions to three (3) per artist. We cannot guarantee that any or all submissions will be accepted since jurors will make the final decisions based on which artwork best represents the desired theme and look and feel of the show.
To enter: Send images of your entries (up to 3) to cfclimateartists@gmail.com by April 25, 2021, along with the following information:
Artist's name, Email address, mailing address, and telephone number
Name, size and medium for each piece
A sentence or two describing each piece
A short artist statement
We will notify artists whether their images have been chosen for the art show by May 2, 2021. More information on dates for artwork delivery to and pick up from the OSC will be provided to the selected artists. All juror decisions are final and cannot be reversed.
Look out for the call for artists for video performances related to environmental themes.