Climate Art Workshop Presenters: Savannah Holt and Dyani Frye 11/13/25 Cambridge Community Building
The Climate Art Workshop was a way to raise awareness about the impact of meaningful art. It was an event open to Science and Global Change and Environment, Technology, and Economy Scholars, bringing together a group of students interested in learning more about how art is related to nature. The presenters discussed different types of climate art and the messages each artist tried to convey. They showed real-world examples of climate art and explained why the artists chose to use certain materials, colors, and display locations. The participants then had fulfilling discussions with each other about the purposes and interpretations behind each piece. Some artworks focused on issues such as ocean pollution, greenhouse gases, carbon footprint, and even renewable energy sources. A notable piece of art was a giant fish made from plastic bottles, displayed at the beach to remind tourists not to leave behind trash. After learning about climate art, we were able to create our own in three different stations. The stations included water color painting, pie chart making, and climate magazine crafting.
I believe that the main points the presenters aimed to convey were somewhat convincing. In my experience as an attendee of the workshop, I learned what climate art actually is, having never heard about it before. By the end of the event, I had a good understanding of why artists create climate art and the purposes beyond it. However, I felt that not all of the activity stations were effective in teaching us about the topic.
For example, at the pie chart station, I was confused as to why we were making art about our feelings and struggled to find the correlation to climate change. Although it was a fun and relaxing experience, I found that it lacked a clear purpose in teaching us about climate art. In contrast, I found the other two stations to be much more effective.
At the water color station, I painted a circle of sea animals to represent the beauty of marine life and to highlight the importance of protecting endangered species in the ocean. While painting, I also had meaningful conversations with my peers and talked about their artwork and why they chose to convey their messages. One girl painted the solar system and told me that she chose to draw that as a way to symbolize the idea that if humans don’t protect the Earth by reducing pollution, we might one day have to live in space.
Additionally, I enjoyed making the climate magazines. I chose to title mine “A Beginner’s Guide to National Parks,” where I discussed basic park rules such as leave no trace and don’t disrupt any wildlife. I chose to draw and write about this theme because I wanted to inform others about the importance of preserving our national parks and why as a tourist, we must be mindful that these lands belong to the wildlife who inhabit them. One of my peers wrote his climate magazine about frogs. On each page, he wrote a different fact about certain species of frog and how some are endangered due to human action. He discussed a species that lives in the Amazon Rainforest that is slowly diminishing due to deforestation. I thought that his magazine was a very good example of climate art, as it was unique, educational, and visually fun.
Despite the one station that I thought felt less informative, the presenters did a great job of teaching us about the purpose and impact of climate art. After attending the workshop, I developed a deeper appreciation for how art can hold strong messages. From now on, I will be sure to evaluate art with a more critical eye and perspective in order to understand what the artist is trying to portray.