Citizen’s Climate Lobby: ‘Art as Activism’ Artwork Series

For several years I’ve worked with my local chapter of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby to facilitate a range of participatory projects ranging from a community contribution painting presented as a gift to the Town of Truckee for its adoption of climate targets, to a multi-generational event for local teen climate activists that was co-sponsored by Patagonia and eventually became the painting Big Hope Bear, and continues to both raise awareness and funds for Environmental awareness through its sale and the subsequent sale of limited edition prints of the image. We (myself with CCL) have also collaborated with several schools throughout the local school district, Palisades Ski Resort, and the Palisades Village Company to create a growing educational program based upon the Climate Stripes in which children work with their teachers to respond to the changing data related to our changing temperature averages, and the many ways that it has affected our planet. Upon completion the banners are displayed together at the Earth Day community event, with interpretive signage describing the project as a whole as well as each individual school’s area of focus, study and creative expression. It has given hundreds of students an opportunity to study the affects of our changing climate in depth, and perhaps most importantly to express their feelings and thoughts about an issue that is a particular existential threat to their generation.  It just concluded it’s third year, and we are discussing ways to create a lesson and art series that can be taken nationwide.