Artwork by ten American artists motivated by concern over climate change will be featured August through September at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional headquarters at 1650 Arch Street in downtown Philadelphia. The exhibition, organized by Honoring the Future, will be installed in the huge 54-foot long set of windows facing 17th Street.
Nancy Cohen, Hackensack Dreaming (detail) (2014). Glass, handmade paper, rubber, monofilament. Installation has two parts: a south wall, 20 x 11 x 13 feet, and a north wall, 17 x 11 x 9 feet. © Nancy Cohen, 2015.
“Art can catalyze creative solutions to climate change: art focuses attention, compels reflection, taps creativity, and inspires innovation,” said Fran Dubrowski, director of Honoring the Future. “Science appeals to the brain; art also appeals to the heart.”
“These works of art deliver a powerful visual message about the challenges climate change presents to our health, natural resources, economy and our children’s future,” Dubrowski added. “But like all good art, they also offer hope.”
The artworks are captured in ten large (36” x 30”) photographs, developing a narrative theme that depicts melting glaciers, rising seas, and extreme storms but also showcases sustainable responses to climate change. Anyone walking by the 17th Street windows can see the outward facing exhibition; there is no need to enter the building.
Philadelphia area artists featured include painter Diane Burko, [Columbia Glacier Lines of Recession 1980-2005 (detail) (2011)], craft artist Peter Handler [Maldives Table, 2009], and sculptor Paula Winokur [Calving Glacier, 2010].
The exhibition will remain on display during Pope Francis’ historic visit to Philadelphia September 26-27, 2015. One of the works featured is a detail of Ichthys, a digital artwork created by Miami artist Xavier Cortada to welcome the Pope’s climate change message and U.S. visit. The Pope issued a formal Papal letter on human responsibility for the environment on June 18, 2015. He called climate change “one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day,” noting it most heavily burdens the poor.
Pope Francis called on “every person living on this planet” to act and to encourage their leaders to act on climate change. “Honoring the Future shares the belief that each of us can make a difference where we live, work, study, and play,” said Dubrowski.
Honoring the Future is using Cortada’s image as part of a letter it will send Pope Francis on the eve of his U.S. visit. Anyone may sign the letter, which thanks the Pope for his leadership and pledges to consider his message on climate change “with open minds, generous hearts, and a willingness to honor our responsibility to care lovingly for the earth….”
Also featured is WATERWASH® ABC (2011), a green infrastructure project in the South Bronx, the nation’s poorest Congressional District, created by ecological artist Lillian Ball with assistance from Drexel University environmental engineering graduate students and community youth. The project improved water quality, increased native habitat, provided a more natural aesthetic amenity, educated the public about wetland benefits, and helped prepare the shoreline for sea level rise and heavier rains from climate change.
The exhibition previews “Hackensack Dreaming,” an installation by Nancy Cohen that will be on display at Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education from November 5-December 19. The artist hopes the installation, which explores the contradictions of “nature” in an urban environment, will spark reflection on our natural systems, the delicate balance they maintain to survive, how much we need them, and how heedlessly we impact them.
Also featured are artworks by photographer Gary Braasch [Tuvalu (detail)(2005)], ecological artist Patricia Johanson [Fair Park Lagoon (detail)(1981-86)], painter Alexis Rockman [Blue Storm (detail)(2006)], and ceramic artist Eric Serritella [Charred Sultry Birch Teapot (2013)].
