Image: Courtney Mattison, Our Changing Seas IV (2019). Glazed stoneware and porcelain. Dimensions: 11’ x 17’ x 2’. Photograph by Courtney Mattison. ©2019 Courtney Mattison. Courtesy of the artist.

This exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the Windgate Foundation.

Today, interest in restoring humanity’s balance with nature is at an all-time high. Ever more ominous storms, droughts, floods, heat waves and wildfires have sparked a new reckoning.

We recognize that it is up to us – all of us – working together to muster the hope, creativity and resolve to surmount our climate challenge.

At this pivotal moment, artists can supply critical leadership.

Art has been a key component of every major modern U.S. social movement – often the catalyst – and is especially needed here. As a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter covering Honoring the Future’s inaugural art event wrote: “[Art] provides another entry point for people whose eyes glaze over at the mention of how experts are now measuring up to 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, up from 280 in the late 1700s.”

Craft artists, in particular, with their history of repurposing found objects, valuing innovation, and engaging the public, are uniquely situated to help us envision and embrace more sustainable behaviors – and many are doing so to brilliant effect. Powerful communicators, these artists focus attention, tap creativity, kindle innovation, and engage emotions. And they go where science cannot, summoning our courage, spurring our resilience, guiding us to ask: are the decisions of this generation honoring the future of the next?

This exhibition provides a much-needed spotlight on their work. We believe their vision and talent can bring fresh hope and new insights to a world in need of solutions to environmental challenges.