Honoring the Future is proud to present Climate Art and Action, an art exhibition exploring the reality and impact of climate change and ideas for how we can respond to its challenge.
The exhibition opens January 30, 2015 and extends through March 30, 2015 at Mishkan Shalom Synagogue in Philadelphia. A “Meet the Artists” reception will take place February 1, 2015 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.
This exhibition will feature the work of two visionary Philadelphia artists: Paula Winokur and Peter Handler.
Winokur is an internationally renowned sculptor whose work has been in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art since 1970. Her sculptures and photographs of Greenland’s melting Ilulissat glacier carry a poignant message. “Nature is so beautiful, so fragile, and so easily disturbed,” Winokur observes. “Part of my mission is to make these pieces, bring them into the gallery space, and provide an inspiration for people to reflect on how they are affecting the environment and what they can possibly do about it.”
Handler is an award-winning craft artist and creator of “The Canaries in the Coal Mine,” sculptural works about the impacts of climate change. The title of his most recent artwork is a reference to the practice of coal miners to carry a caged canary with them when they descended into the mines to warn, by virtue of the canary’s sensitivity to poor air quality, of imminent danger. “For me, this is a good working metaphor for what we now face on Earth. With the ever-increasing burning of fossil fuels, we have ‘canaries’ all around us,” Handler explains.
“We are proud to be partnering with Mishkan Shalom Synagogue to bring this seminal work to public attention,” said Honoring the Future Project Director Fran Dubrowski. “Mishkan Shalom is committed to responsible stewardship of the land where its community resides – a commitment it manifests through smart stormwater management, habitat preservation, and community education. So the very site of the exhibition sends a message that we are serious about building “climate smART communities.”
Program details follow:
