Honoring the Future’s well-received Climate Art and Action exhibition opened at the Mishkan Shalom Synagogue in Philadelphia on January 30, 2015.
At a “Meet the Artists” reception on February 1, Mishkan Shalom’s Rabbi Shawn Zevit noted that the exhibition coincided with the annual Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat, a time when trees are planted to celebrate earth’s bounty and to remind us of our environmental responsibility to future generations. The rabbi expressed hope that the exhibition would plant the seed of concern for climate action among all who attended.
The exhibition featured the work of two prominent Philadelphia artists. Paula Winokur, an internationally renowned sculptor whose work has been in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art since 1970, exhibited photographs she had taken on a trip to witness Iceland’s melting Ilulissat glacier and porcelain sculptures made on her return to call attention to the scope of ongoing glacial destruction. Winokur’s work has a distinct message. “Nature is so beautiful, so fragile, and so easily disturbed,” she said. “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.”
Award-winning craft artist Peter Handler exhibited his “Canaries In The Coal Mine” series of artworks. The title refers to the practice of coal miners to carry a caged canary into the mines to warn of dangerous gases. (The canary, more sensitive than humans, collapsed in the presence of poor air quality.) Handler observed, “For me, this is a metaphor for what we now face on Earth. With the ever-increasing burning of fossil fuels, we have ‘canaries’ all around us.”
The exhibition sparked requests for further programming on climate change at the synagogue. It also inspired the synagogue school to begin planning a project to enable students to create their own climate art exhibition.
Honoring the Future Project Director Fran Dubrowski predicted, “We hope this will begin a series of exhibitions that put climate change squarely before the public through art.”
The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, continues through March 30, 2015.
Program details follow:
