Artwork by ten American artists motivated by concern over climate change will be featured in Honoring the Future’s Climate Art & Action exhibition November 30 through January, 2016 at the City of Hialeah, Florida’s Milander Center for Arts & Entertainment. The exhibition will coincide with the opening of the United Nations conference on climate change in Paris and the annual international gathering of art-lovers at Art Basel in nearby Miami.
“As the world turns its attention to the Paris climate talks, we are proud to be showcasing poignant and compelling artwork on climate change by some of America’s most visionary artists,” explained Fran Dubrowski, director of Honoring the Future. “Art has the power to move hearts as well as minds. We hope this art will inspire all who see it to take up the challenge of responding to climate change where they live, work, study, and play. Our children’s future depends on the energy and lifestyle choices we make today,” Dubrowski added.
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.
One of the featured works is a detail of Ichthys, a digital art image created by Miami artist Xavier Cortada. Honoring the Future commissioned the work to accompany a letter sent to Pope Francis on the eve of his recent U.S. visit. The letter thanked the Pope for his leadership on climate change and pledged the 675 individuals who signed to consider his climate message “with open minds, generous hearts, and a willingness to honor our responsibility to care lovingly for the earth we leave our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.”
Other climate-related artwork by Cortada is featured in a parallel CLIMA exhibition also showing at the Milander Center. Cortada explains his underlying theme: “Generations not yet born ask us to save the species we coevolved with, rescue each other from ourselves, and learn to love one another.”
Both exhibitions are sponsored by the City of Hialeah and accompany 12 days of programmed panels, performance art and special events, coinciding with the 12 days of the UN conference talks in Paris. The talks seek to achieve a new international agreement on climate, applicable to all countries, to keep global warming below 2°C, a benchmark widely recommended by climate scientists.
The well-publicized Hialeah exhibition also coincides with the arrival in nearby Miami of more than 50,000 art-lovers from around the world for the international Art Basel show (Dec. 3 – 6, 2015) and its satellite art fairs. “The fairs are designed to explore ‘what is new and significant’ in the field of contemporary art,” said Dubrowski. “One of the most significant new developments in contemporary art is the quantity, beauty, and power of art calling attention to climate change.”
