Tickets for the Cultural Adaptations conference will launch soon. Register now to be one of the first to know.
The conference, which aims to share the learnings from the Creative Europe-funded project over four days of presentations, workshops and networking, will take place online from 2nd to 5th March 2021.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has compelled us to cancel plans to host the conference in Glasgow and to take it online instead. This means barriers created by travel restrictions are removed, and there’s an opportunity for global participation and contribution on a scale we could not have envisaged previously. And we’ll still ensure there’s some uniquely Glaswegian and Scottish style included!
Cultural Adaptations is a Creative Europe project, led by Creative Carbon Scotland with partners in Scotland and three EU countries, on culture’s role in society’s adaptation to climate, and the adaptation issues that cultural organisations need to think about.
For almost 30 months, four cultural organisations have been exploring collaboratively how this approach can work in countries with similar climate challenges but differing socio-political frameworks. Each cultural partner is working with a local adaptation partner.
TICKETS LAUNCHING SOON
We’ll soon be launching tickets for the four-day virtual conference and we plan to announce the full programme and speakers shortly afterwards. Here’s what we can share so far:
The conference spans four days
Each day includes digital social activities and creative takes on a digital conference
The days are themed allowing you to focus on your preferred topics and engage in new areas of work –
We encourage cultural organisations in Scotland and further afield to team up with an adaptation organisation to attend this exciting conference together and find inspiration for your own projects and initiatives. And, vice versa.
Cultural Adaptations is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union with match-funding from Scottish Government.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
Could you create a piece of public art that helps people walking and cycling to find their way?
Sustrans, in partnership with Perth and Kinross Council, is looking for an ambitious artist who creates high-quality, innovative public artwork with community engagement at its core. Due to current physical distancing guidance, we are particularly interested in local artists who can travel safely and sustainably to Perth, or who can suggest a reasonable alternative method for researching and installing the project.
The team is looking for a site-specific piece of public art that helps people walking and cycling to find their way. The art should draw on the comments and ideas gathered through the Craigie Pocket Place public engagement process and help to point out important local places, as well as the National Cycle Network route. The artist should consider how the new artwork can be accessible ‘for everyone’, including blind and partially sighted people.
Notes of interest should be submitted by 31st January 2021.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
The British Council is delighted to announce the A.R.C Challenge Malaysia Grant in response to climate change and COP26.
The British Council in Malaysia is inviting applications for the A.R.C. Malaysia Challenge Grant, which brings together stakeholders from the arts and creative industries, education, science and civil society sectors to collaborate on a common challenge in response to climate change and offer innovative and interdisciplinary solutions that create awareness and enhance resilience among youth. The A.R.C. Malaysia Challenge will be part of the cultural programme activities in the build up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), which the UK is hosting on 1–12 November 2021.
The A.R.C. Challenge Malaysia Grant provides seed funding for collaborations between stakeholders in the UK and Malaysia, which respond to a common challenge in the field of climate change through shared solutions that empower young people to take positive action which can cascade awareness and create greater resilience amongst others in their generation, as well as influence policy making.
The British Council Malaysia is offering three seed funding grants of up to £10,000 each to kick-start innovative, joint UK-Malaysia responses to a shared climate change challenge involving young people aged 18–35. We encourage cross-sectoral collaboration in our grant applications. Ideally, we would include projects which are from the arts and creative industries, education and science sectors in our final awards.
Successful grants will be announced during the first A.R.C. Challenge Malaysia Forum on 4 February 2021. Awardees will then have the opportunity to pitch their projects during the second A.R.C. Challenge Malaysia Forum on 25 March 2021 to an audience of diverse stakeholders including potential funders, policy makers, research, academic and youth organisations, in the hope that their project will spark further interest that may lead to scaling-up and sustainability.
Successful applicants will be awarded a grant of up to £10,000 and are expected to deliver their projects from 15 February 2021, complete all activities by 15 November 2021 and submit the project report to the British Council by 30 November 2021.
Eligible applicants are invited to complete and submit the application form via email by Friday 22 January 2021 (5 p.m. Malaysia time / 9 a.m. UK time).
For further information on the grant, eligibility, application process and contact details, please refer to our website.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
Can you reimagine a future where we put nature at the heart of our decisions?
WWF has launched a nationwide competition calling on creatives to produce artworks that reimagine a greener, thriving future – where nature is at the heart of our decisions. The initiative, titled ‘Just Imagine’, hopes to spark conversations about the solutions to the climate and nature crisis and drive positive change through art.
Now open for entries, the competition welcomes submissions across a variety of disciplines, including visual arts, illustration, fashion and textiles, poetry, creative writing, and other art forms. Entrants are encouraged to use their artistic explorations to capture how we can best live in harmony with our planet and what our rebuilt future could look like.
The competition follows the release of Sir David Attenborough’s new film, ‘A Life On Our Planet’, in which he reflects on the changes to the natural world during his lifetime and presents his hopeful vision for the future. WWF, who co-produced the film, is encouraging individuals, arts collectives and artist networks from across the UK to take inspiration from Attenborough’s powerful witness statement and respond to the competition brief with their own ‘reimagined’ future.
Entries will close at 5pm on Monday, 25 January 2021. A panel of judges – including award-winning graphic designer Greg Bunbury, painter poet Judy Ling Wong CBE and award-winning Anthropological Future Designer Stacie Woolsey – will then select 12 winners to feature in a virtual exhibition, hosted by WWF-UK.
The exhibition aims to inspire and influence local communities, while illustrating the power of the creative community in shaping new ways of thinking.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
Scottish geographer and energy specialist, Neil Kitching, recently independently published ‘Carbon Choices’, a book on the common-sense solutions to our climate and nature crises.
In Carbon Choices, I identify five common sense principles to tackle climate change:
1. Price carbon pollution 2. Consume carefully, travel wisely 3. Embrace efficiency, avoid waste 4. Nurture nature 5. Be fair across current and future generations
In this blog, I explore the carbon impact of arts and culture and how we can apply these five principles in Scotland.
The direct carbon footprint of arts and culture can be low compared to more mechanised forms of entertainment – dominated by the energy used to heat the buildings that house activities and cultural events. Conversely, the indirect footprint is often high. Audience travel to a concert is the largest component of its carbon footprint, whilst many people travel long distances to view culture and art, for example, to see famous buildings and works of art that are usually sited in large cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh.
What is perhaps more interesting is that the arts and culture can influence society and cultural norms and behaviour, which can increase or decrease society’s carbon footprint. The creativity of people who work in art and design needs to be harnessed to challenge, inform and engage audiences on the impacts of climate change and in the actions we can all choose to take to reduce our carbon footprint. This can be active, for example, an exhibition on climate change, or embedded more subtly into wider messages.
Price carbon pollution Placing a realistic price on carbon pollution is an action that government should lead on. But in the meantime, you should calculate your organisation’s carbon footprint* and reduce it as far as possible. This includes your use of gas and electricity and travel by your staff but should be widened to include what you buy and audience travel. The V&A is a magnificent modern museum in Dundee (pictured above) heated by efficient heat pumps, yet the building itself is built from concrete, which is a carbon intensive building material. Only by thinking in a holistic way can we start to consider and then tackle the full impact of our activities.
Consume carefully, travel wisely Consuming carefully is all about thinking about what you buy. Can you buy second hand, can you reuse costumes, props and equipment? If you do have to buy, buy quality goods that will last and can be reused. Meanwhile, having good quality and accessible public transport, whilst actively discouraging people to travel by car, is the best policy to reduce the carbon footprint of events. Organisers often put on coaches to get young people to music concerts in remote rural locations such as RockNess. The Solheim Cup golf event at Gleneagles in Scotland is a good example of a major event held in a rural area where no public car parking was provided. Instead, visitors had to travel by train or use the park and ride facilities set up for the event.
Embrace efficiency, avoid waste Investing in energy efficiency is often the first action an organisation takes when it decides to ‘go green’. It is a good place to start; there is usually obvious wastage, and it saves money. But also consider your use of other resources such as water, and resources used to manufacture the equipment that you buy. Everything you buy has a carbon footprint, whether it is made from natural resources such as timber and cotton or is mined from the ground such as minerals or oil. Avoid waste by reusing – do everything possible to prolong the life of objects before they need to be recycled.
Nurture nature
Tree regeneration in the Cairngorms, Scotland.
Nature is integral to our climate – trees and healthy soils store carbon. We need to do more than protect and preserve nature, we need to enhance and restore it. Society influences our attitudes to nature. For example, in Europe wolves gained a bad name in books and folklore and were hunted to extinction in Scotland in 1680. In reality they avoid humans and are an essential part of the ecosystem, suppressing herbivores, which if uncontrolled prevent tree saplings from growing. The arts and culture can influence people in a positive way, for example, the BBC’s Blue Planet had a huge impact by raising awareness across the world of the impact of plastic in the oceans. The film Avatarappealed to a wide audience of science-fiction fans but also contained a strong pro-environmental message.
Be fair across current and future generations ‘Be fair’ combines the concepts of equity and social justice. It applies to wealth differences within and between countries and between the young, old and future generations. This is the most difficult of the five principles to apply, yet arts and culture can be used to proactively influence society. Theatre and cinema can highlight inequality and injustice, whilst TV documentaries can explore issues of toxic waste (such as radioactive particles on Scottish beaches) and heavy metals from mining, which may impact future generations.
Grounds for hope Amidst all the bad news, there are grounds for hope – Carbon Choices concludes with a green action plan for government, business and individuals to make better carbon choices.
This guest blog was posted by Neil Kitching, author of Carbon Choices, which is available to buy on Amazon. One third of profits will be donated to rewilding projects.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
This month, I share some of my own climate story. In doing so, I evoke the spirit of American poet Walt Whitman. After I experienced a breakdown and breakthrough concerning climate change, I took a year off to study the topic. Throughout that year, I found myself drawn to Whitman and his work.
I discovered there was a lot more to the bard than just his famous book, Leaves of Grass. Whitman grew from an aimless young man, to a dynamic new poetic prophet, to a tender and faithful caregiver to young men devastated by the American Civil War. I stress how, similar to the need to increase our empathy during this time of the coronavirus pandemic, climate change requires an opening of the heart. Whitman models this beautifully in the ways he cared for wounded and dying soldiers.
Influenced by Gary Schmidgall’s book, Walt Whitman: A Gay Life, I recreate the moment of Whitman’s first breakthrough. It happened during an evening at the opera when he heard the Italian diva Madame Marietta Alboni. Her voice pierced Whitman and opened up his artistic soul. You will hear Fac ut Portem from Rossini’s Stabat Mater, available onarchive.org, as I narrate the moment.
Next month: Lindsay Linsky, a Bible-believing Christian in Georgia and the author of Keep It Good: Understanding Creation Care through Parables. In her book, she seeks to break through environmental apathy and partisan noise to show Christians God’s simple yet beautiful message of creation stewardship.
As host of Citizens’ Climate Radio, Peterson Toscano regularly features artists who address climate change in their work. The Art House section of his program includes singer/songwriters, visual artists, comics, creative writers, and playwrights. Through a collaboration with Artists and Climate Change and Citizens’ Climate Education, each month Peterson reissues The Art House for this blog. If you have an idea for The Art House, contact Peterson: radio @ citizensclimatelobby.org
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Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.
Situated on Canada’s beautiful west coast Salt Spring Island, within the territories of the Coast Salish peoples,here you will find a sanctuary to breathe, dream, experiment, create and play.
The Creation Barn
The Woodland Farm Creation Barn is approx. 790 ft2 (73 m2) in a newly-built, comfortably-heated space with soaring 19ft (6m) gabled ceilings and a sprung floor. The barn includes a small conference table in a large open space with plenty of natural light, sound, lighting and video equipment, along with design and development support available upon request.
Surrounding the Creation Barn is a stunning forest, with old growth trees, walking paths and gardens. Owls, deer, even the occasional river otter visit us here at Woodland Farm. We are situated walking distance to the ocean, the small town of Ganges, grocery stores, a winery and cidery and bakery.
Here is a Video of the Woodland Farm Artist Residency build!
The Private Cottage
This spacious one-bedroom cottage is peaceful, warm and inviting; with everything you might need to feel at home while you immerse yourself in nature and art.
A fully equipped kitchen and an outdoor BBQ make your stay comfortable. Suitable for maximum two people.
Woodland Farm is a small organic farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada.
Owned by sisters Sheila Dobie, Gwenyth Dobie and William Mackwood, they aim to offer healthy food, lifestyle, and personal space for creative renewal and revitalization.
Their Farm Stand provides delicious produce for Salt Spring Islanders and guests. Eggs, Berries, Greens, Apples, Squash, Beans, Beets, and Herbs… plus beautiful flower bouquets.
Artist Residency Fees
Creation Barn Rates* $1000/Month
Private Cottage Fees for Artist in Residence* Maximum of 2 people: $1,500/Month (Includes all utilities and wifi)
*Emerging Artists may be offered a reduced rate (to be negotiated)
Sweat Contribution Every individual on Woodland Farm is asked to spend at least 1 hour per day working on the farm, in a capacity that is suitable to them. We know from experience that working in nature clears the mind and inspires creative thinking.
Woodland Farm Mushroom Forest
Things to know and consider about the Woodland Farm Artist Residency
Woodland Farm is our home and we would ask you to treat the spaces and the land with respect and consideration.
Why are all your residencies 1 month in length? We know from experience that it takes at least a week to start sleeping and breathing. When we are all running so fast in our usual lives, it takes dedicated time to slow down- to allow the creative juices to start flowing again.
What kind of artists and projects would fit well at Woodland Farm Artist Residency? Founders William Mackwood and Gwenyth Dobie are both extremely experienced in the development of new work through their company Out of the Box Productions and having been on Faculty at York University’s Theatre and Dance Departments.
William and Gwenyth have delved into the worlds of Dance, Theatre, Music, Interactive Stage, Immersive and Site Specific creation, and we welcome applications from emerging and established artists of all performance based practices.
Will we get help and support when we are at the Woodland Farm Artist Residency? William and Gwenyth are available as needed to be an outside eye, offer feedback, suggest lighting, video, interactive stage ideas. This would be decided together.
Can we share a presentation of our developed work during our Residency? That is completely up to you. Up to 20 people can be invited to offer you constructive feedback. We can help arrange this showing at a time that works well with your process.
What the heck… I see that I have to work on the farm for at least 1 hour a day?! Yes! Everyone who comes to stay at Woodland Farm is asked to contribute to the care taking of the land for 1 hour each day. What you do depends on your skills and comfort level. You could be raking leaves, weeding, clearing the walking paths in the forest, planting in the garden. In our experience, this time in nature, away from the creation process actually clears the brain for innovative ideas.
Where is Salt Spring Island?
Salt Spring Island is truly a nature lovers’ paradise. With spectacular coastal and pastoral scenery and the moderate climate, a variety of activities can be comfortably pursued all months of the year. From leisurely walks along pristine beaches to challenging uphill hikes, the vistas, flora and fauna are always inspiring. Surrounded by miles and miles of the mainly sheltered waterways of the Pacific Ocean’s Salish Sea, this Gulf Island archipelago offers countless opportunities to explore the marine world. https://www.saltspringtourism.com/salt-spring-news/
To get to Salt Spring Island, there are 3 Ferry Routes. Arrivals and Departures for Vancouver go via Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to Long Harbour. The Ferry from Crofton (near Nanaimoon Vancouver Island) arrives at Vesuvius, and the Ferry from Swartz Bay near Victoria arrives via Fulford Harbour.
Woodland Farm is walking distance to the small town of Ganges and Churchill Beach. You can walk to excellent Restaurants, Kutatás Winery, Salt Spring Cider, Francis Breads, and Country Grocer.
If you are interested in being considered for an Artist Residency at Woodland Farm… please APPLY HERE
Expressions of interest are open for one month for an exciting new residency in the Cairngorms.
An exciting new opportunity has been launched by the Endangered Landscapes Programme inviting artists to undertake a residency in eight landscapes across Europe, including within the Cairngorms Connect project area in the Cairngorms National Park.
As part of a collaboration with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative’s Arts, Science and Conservation Programme, an artist or collective will work alongside partners in Cairngorms Connect and the local community to explore the landscape in new ways.
The residency is open to all contemporary artists, makers or collectives, with priority given to those who have a link to the landscape in the Cairngorms, to submit an expression of interest from 7th January 2021 as part of a two-stage competitive process.
Entries are welcomed from any medium, from new to traditional artforms which will allow reconnection with nature. This could include, but is not limited to: music, painting, writing, ceramics, photography, glassblowing, sculpture, poetry, performance, and site-specific installation.
The creation of this collaborative process recognises the importance the arts play in addressing environmental challenges and understanding how people and communities interact with the landscape.
Starting in June 2021, the selected proposal will celebrate this across land managed by Forestry and Land Scotland, NatureScot, RSPB Scotland and Wildland Limited, which make up the Cairngorms Connect project area, with $5,400 US dollars being awarded as part of the residency.
Residencies are also available in the seven other implementation landscape restoration projects funded by the Endangered Landscapes Programme, including in Wales and throughout Europe. This gives opportunities for artists to work in diverse habitats, though they are expected to have a significant link to their chosen project area. At the end of the residencies, there will be an art prize of $2,500 US dollars awarded to the most outstanding piece of work from the eight implementation project areas.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
Open Call for submissions to the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts Quarterly, Q35: “The Ground Beneath Our Feet: Decolonizing Art & Ecologyâ€
This issue of CSPA Quarterly destabilizes Colonial Settler perspectives in ecological art practices. By bringing together artists and writers who re-center BIPOC, and particularly Indigenous, voices in decolonial eco-art, this issue proposes a different way to view ecology. Currently inviting submissions. Artists of any media, or style encouraged to submit their work. Poets, Painters, Photographers, Authors of Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Essays all welcome. Please submit your name and a short (50-100) word description of the work you would like to contribute, along with a writing sample, or small portfolio to the editor, Jonah Winn-Lenetsky by February 28th at jonah.winn-lenetsky@iaia.edu
More information about the Quarterly, include past issues, here. https://www.sustainablepractice.org/programs/quarterly/
Multi-disciplinary artist Jeff Carpenter is passionate about creating a radically new dialogue on the climate crisis. Towards that end, he conceived and curated the exhibition, FEMA: Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead, which ran from October 31 through November 8, 2020, at the Icebox Project Space in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. FEMA was developed in just six weeks from start to finish so that it could serve as a space for open dialogue before the pivotal U.S. presidential election on November 4.
FEMA included 11 regional artists, whose work encompassed paintings, installation, multi-media, maps, and participatory elements. Their contributions to the exhibition directly and forcefully confronted the existential threat of rising tides, the homelessness it has and will continue to precipitate, and the political stalemate that has prevented critical action.
To add a visceral sense of the coming reality, Carpenter and his volunteer crew filled the entire 3,300-square-foot gallery with 10,000 gallons or eight inches of water. Once the gallery was flooded, the space became a white reflecting pool, which enhanced the impact of the dramatic work. In order to navigate the space, visitors entering the exhibition were provided with white rubber boots. Carpenter reported that the experience of sloshing around the gallery with childlike abandon offered them some comic relief from the overwhelming seriousness of the exhibition’s content as well as from feelings of anxiety and despair.
Installation view of FEMA: Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead, 2020
In our recent conversation, Carpenter explained how the exhibition came about. He noted that when his sister sent him a copy of a FEMA Flood Factor Map showing predictions of where flooding would occur in her Florida neighborhood, they discussed how the map, with its attractive, color-coded patterns, looked like something that could be seen in an art exhibition.
From that initial discussion, Carpenter began thinking about enlarging additional maps and creating an exhibition around them in Miami, Florida, where flooding has already become a common occurrence. After that option failed to materialize, he switched his focus to flooding predictions and Flood Factor Maps related to Philadelphia and began searching for an exhibition space in his own hometown. He was surprised when the maps indicated how serious the flooding would be in just fifteen years if nothing were done to mitigate the crisis in the meantime.
Installation view of FEMA Flood Factor Map for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. Visitors to the exhibition were able to discover whether or not their homes fell within the predicted flood areas and then mark their locations with red dots.
Fortuitously, the Icebox Project Space, which had not had a physical exhibition since March of 2020 when it closed due to the pandemic, agreed to host the show just three weeks before the date of the opening. (Ironically, a week after the exhibition was de-installed, Philadelphia imposed a shut-down and the gallery closed again.) The tasks required to fabricate the exhibition in such a short period of time were effectively accomplished by painter and sculptor Simone Spicer, who assisted in recruiting a number of the participating artists and designed one of the interactive components; builder Ken Schapira, who developed the 3-D elements; roofer Brian Spanier, who installed the white rubber roofing material used to protect the floor and a 12-inch portion of the gallery walls from water damage; and Carpenter’s studio manager, Katie Hubbell, who created the exhibition video, shown below.
Carpenter wanted a name for the exhibition that was as provocative as possible. He decided to use a play on the acronym for FEMA (the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency) that climate activists in Florida had already coined in jest: “Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead.†Although the exhibition team had gleefully considered other iterations for FEMA, including “Farcical Environmental Management Acts,†“Fools Expecting Miracles From Above,†“Federal Enablers Masking the Apocalypse,†“Forget Even Mentioning Action†and many others, the farcical acronyms were actually pointing serious blame on the lack of the government’s action in preventing the significant consequences of the climate crisis.
Two six-foot-tall oil paintings by Johnny Everyman, an artist collaborative, served as focal points in the gallery. Hanging precariously low to the flooded floor, they depict surreal images of corporate greed and military might. In Happy Motoring, politicians in suits, including several in scary masks, stand on an off-shore drilling rig, in front of a huge Exxon sign, while armed soldiers point their weapons on “the people†who are standing far below on the roofs of their flooded homes. The skewed perspective in the painting emphasizes the power of the oil industry and their lackeys in preventing meaningful action to reduce the use of fossil fuel.
Johnny Everyman, Happy Motoring, oil on canvas, 72†x 48â€, 2015.
Three intriguing sculptural installations floated or were placed on a riser in the flooded space. Simone Spicer’s damaged and non-functional shopping cart, titled Life Support System for a Failed Economy, was filled with plastic junk and housed a working fountain spouting water in all directions. Two floating, make-shift rafts, created by the exhibition team and covered with camping tents, contained used camping equipment and necessities for daily life. All three pieces refer to the victims of rising seas, who are forced out of their homes and survive as climate refugees by living on rickety rafts in the sea itself or by roaming the streets homeless looking for food. In addition to its message of warning, Spicer’s fountain served as a soundtrack broadcasting dripping water into the large, echo-y, water-filled space.
The Exhibition Team, Family Raft, salvaged insulation foam, wooden pallets, rope, nylon, steel, car battery, DC/AC inverter, hot plate, cell phone, electronic cords, clothing, sleeping bags, 59†x 117†x 13†rising to 51â€
Interactive elements personalized the exhibition and its content. Visitors could locate and mark their own homes on a large wall map showing 15-year predictions of flooding in the Philadelphia area; they could access a database showing flooding predictions for any address in the continental United States on a computer terminal located under a sign for the Philadelphia AtroCity Planning Department; and they could write a personal message at a working station, place it in a plastic bottle, then throw it into the gallery’s “sea.†Spicer’s poetic wall statement provided instructions and read in part as follows:
A “message in a bottle,†with the emotions that surround it; fear, vulnerability, optimism, hopefulness, and belief in human kindness becomes a metaphor for our predicament now, as a planet that supports us is in dire need of rescue and recovery from our unsustainable practice. What do you need? What would a rescue look like to you? Write a message, put it in a bottle, toss it into the ocean. Make contact.
FEMA: Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead, created in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, and installed just days before an election that would determine how environmental issues like rising sea levels would be addressed or not over the next four years, was a cacophonous call to action. How we as individuals and as a society respond to this plea will determine nothing less than our future.
This article is part of Imagining Water, a series on artists of all genres who are making the topic of water and climate disruption a focus of their work and on the growing number of exhibitions, performances, projects and publications that are appearing in museums, galleries and public spaces around the world with water as a theme.
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Susan Hoffman Fishman is a painter, public artist and writer whose work has been exhibited in widely in museums and galleries throughout the U.S. Since 2011, all of her paintings, installations and photographs have addressed water and climate change. She co-created a national, participatory public art project, The Wave, which addresses our mutual need for and interdependence on water and which has inspired thousands of adults and children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to protect this vital resource. Her most recent body of work calls attention to the growing number of rampikes along our shores – trees that have been exposed to salt water and died as a result of rising tides.
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Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.
