Palo Alto Art Center Opens New Exhibit In Climate Connections Series
Published on June 15, 2023
“EARTH” Concludes Year-Long Series Featuring Work from Throughout Northern California
PALO ALTO, CALIF.--The Palo Alto Art Center is pleased to present the “EARTH” exhibit June 24-Aug. 19, 2023, the last exhibit in the year-long “Climate Connections” series highlighting the power of art to promote reflection, dialogue and action on climate change. Featuring the work of 34 artists from throughout Northern California, the exhibition showcases a broad range of artistic responses to the earth, through work in photography, painting, installation, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, and digital media.
Artists in the exhibition include: Susana Arias, Federica Armstrong, Defne Beyce, Andrea Borsuk, Henry Bortman, Heidi Brueckner, Leo Loren Burr, Alice Combs, Lisa Cooperman, Edi Dai, Tara de la Garza, Leeza Doreian, Jeff Downing, Claire Dunn, Richard Dweck, Tanja Geis, Bibby Gignilliat, Courtney Griffith, Charlotta Hauksdottir, Pantea Karimi, Jennifer Klecker, Albert Harold Lewis, Kent Manske, Mary Moca, Ulrike Palmbach, Tricia Rainwater, Alana Rios, Piyaali B. Samanta, Emily Schlickman, Pragati Sharma Mohanty, Siana Smith, Kala Stein, Anja Ulfeldt, Minoosh Zomorodinia.
Juror Jodi Roberts selected the 34 artists out of hundreds of submissions. She explained, “Studying the works submitted for Earth has been a genuinely heartening experience. Even as the effects of the climate crisis are felt ever more acutely across the world, artists in the Bay Area are harnessing their creative skill and material ingenuity to address the problem. Each of the works in this show is rich in ideas, and many of the artists featured here are experimenting with new techniques and materials that demonstrate that art-making can be measurably good for the planet and our collective wellbeing. This show underscores the many contributions Bay Area artists make to global campaigns for a healthy and thriving natural world, and I’m excited to see the concepts and solutions these thinkers develop in months and years to come.”
Jodi Roberts, is the co-founder and Managing Director at Art + Climate Action (A+CA) and co-founder of Partners for Arts Climate Targets (PACT). At A+CA, Roberts leads the development of customized climate action plans for Bay Area institutional partners, connecting museums and galleries with resources available from government agencies, foundations, and local nonprofits in order to facilitate sustainability-focused operational and infrastructural changes. Roberts also has more than a decade of experience as a curator and art historian, with curatorial positions at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Stanford University’s Cantor Art Center, and Adrian Rosenfeld Gallery. She holds a B.A., M.A., and PhD from New York University in the History of Art and Architecture, and has published widely on modern and contemporary art from the U.S., South America, and Europe.
“EARTH” is the concluding component of “Climate Connections.” Climate Change & Natural Environment:Protection and Adaptation is one of four City of Palo Alto Council Priorities for 2023. It reflects the City’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and advancing the City’s ambitious goals to address climate change in our community. The City is fully committed to a sustainable future and this is seen in many forms, with the most recent milestone occurring on Monday, June 8. The City Council approved an updated Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) to help the City meet its sustainability goals, including its goals of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
FREE PUBLIC PROGRAMS PRESENTED AT THE PALO ALTO ART CENTER:
In conjunction with “EARTH,” the Palo Alto Art Center will provide the following free public program:
Friday Night at the Art Center opening reception—Friday, June 23, 6-8 p.m., FREE
Celebrate “EARTH” with the artists and juror Jodi Roberts! The event will feature hands-on artmaking opportunities and a cash bar with specialty earth-inspired cocktails provided by the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation. Palo Alto Art Center Foundation members are invited to a special preview at 5 p.m.
To register, follow the link here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/595158002607
About the Palo Alto Art Center:
The Palo Alto Art Center is your place to discover art. See, make, and be inspired because everyone is an artist. Created by the community, for the community in 1971, the Palo Alto Art Center provides an accessible and welcoming place to engage with art. We serve approximately 150,000 people every year through a diverse range of programs.
The Palo Alto Art Center, Division of Arts and Sciences, Community Services Department, City of Palo Alto is funded in part by grants from the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation. The Palo Alto Art Center Foundation gratefully acknowledges support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Yellow Chair Foundation, Acton Family Giving, SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara, private donations, and members.
EARTH-press-release.pdf(PDF, 332KB)