The Power of Art to Communicate Climate Change Effectively
Details on my 2021 Thesis on Art and Climate Change as well as Presentation slides from my Aug 2022 talk on The Power of Art to Communicate Climate Change .
On the 25th of August, I was grateful for the opportunity to speak as part of the Art and Climate Change event, curated by Cristina Ciampaglione, in celebration of a new artwork by New York based artist Federico Massa (a.k.a. Iena Cruz) at the Italian Institute of Culture, Dublin.
I was delighted to give my talk alongside Artist Federico Massa (a.k.a. Iena Cruz), Prof. Quentin Crowley - Director of the Trinity Centre for the Environment, and Cristina Ciampaglione - Project Manager of The Walls Project CLG and coordinator of a street art project on climate change in Waterford. It was inspiring to hear more about their expertise and learn of their work towards highlighting our shared climate crisis through science and creative practice.
The Power of Art to Communicate Climate Change Effectively, was the theme of my presentation, were I talked the audience through my masters thesis research by highlighting 3 key reasons art is a powerful way to communicate Climate Change effectively:
1. Art can make the unfathomable, accessible
2. Art can make the global, local
3. Art can help us see things in a new way
whilst also addressing that the true impact of art can be hard to measure.
See my slides below, presented as part of the Art and Climate Change Event 25.08.22 at the Italian Cultural Institute, Dublin.
For more detailed information on my research into Art communicating Climate Change you can read a copy of my thesis here and a synopsis of my research findings as part of the project here:
“Art and its impact on audiences, considering art as an important form of communication for climate change and our biodiversity crisis, with particular reference to participatory art as an effective vehicle for engagement & facilitation of a societal shift towards climate action.”
Feel free to pop me an email to discuss if you like.
Photographs by Philip Brady.
Participatory Mural Project ‘Baldoyle Birds’ at Bayside Dart Station
Bayside Dart Station Mural - Baldoyle Birds. Inspired by the hum of locally occurring birds including Brent Geese, Swallows, a Starling, a Blue Tit, a Pied Wag Tail and Black Bird chatting.
Bayside/Baldoyle Dart Station Creative Participation Workshop & Mural Making
June 2022 I designed and delivered a participatory workshop on ‘Mural Design & Creative Process’ assisted by Artist (and Friend) Catherine Geaney (ninearrow) with a local Secondary School (Pobalscoil Neasain, Baldoyle) 5th year Art Class Group students guided by their teacher Ms Louise Kelly. Sustainable art practices were used throughout the course of the project by design: from recycled paper, reused materials to eco-friendly paints combining low carbon emissions graphenstone paint & recycled paint from The Rediscovery Centre, Dublin.
Four workshops took place throughout May-June 2022 once a week, kindly organised by local community group Baldoyle Tidy Towns (co-ordinated by member Aoife Cannon) and funded by Iarnrod Eireann & Fingal County Council. The collaborative workshops covered creative inspiration, ideation, involved citizen science seeing the students submit Flower Insect Timed counts to the Biodiversity Data Centre, more info here. We then co-created a mural inspired by our work during the workshops & painted it. Together, the highly creative participating student group, their art teacher and the two artists Catherine and I created this new ‘Baldoyle Birds’ piece at the Bayside Dart Station facing Seagrange Park inspired by the hum of locally occurring birds including Brent Geese, Swallows, a Starling, a Blue Tit, a Pied Wag Tail and Black Bird chatting. I’m really grateful to have been given the opportunity to organises and completed such a fun project & work with such a creative group.
A little bit more about myself and Catherines collaboration
Artists Catherine Geaney (Nine Arrow) and Marie Gordon mild.ie) have a shared interest in sustainability and biodiversity in their artistic practices. In recent years they have worked alongside each other, developing a supportive creative community and are now together developing workshops to facilitate creative experimentation and participation in groups.
About Marie Gordon: Having recently graduated from an MSc in Climate Change Media, Policy & Society at DCU. Marie’s art (illustration, design and mural art) is inspired by our natural environment and climate action. In 2021 she completed a large outdoor mural (20 sq m) celebrating Pollination and Biodiversity funded by Creative Ireland. Participatory practices, innovation through sustainability and minimizing waste are key themes in her work, where she uses recycled products, ecological paints and salvaged materials as much as possible. Marie has been involved in other outdoor painting projects such as the Dublin Canvas Project and is currently delivering a participatory workshop (based on social art practices) for children exploring pollination and the wonders of nature through creativity with D13 primary schools in 2022.
About Catherine Geaney: Catherine Geaney, also known as Nine Arrow, explores Irish, language and nature through art and illustration. Using everyday subjects in nature (such as flora and fauna) and in daily life, Catherine shares her journey re-engaging with Irish folklore and relearning the Irish language through her artwork and creative products, and has built a successful following of over 9k followers, promoting an understanding and love for the Irish language. Her interests are also focused on Irish history, folklore, paganism and spirituality in a contemporary context, with the intention of expanding our understanding of Irishness. Catherine is very concerned with sustainability in her business and uses recycled materials and eco alternatives as a preference in her products. Her work can be seen at NineArrow.com or on her instagram page.
Dublin Inquirer Issue 71: Cover Art
Issue 71 cover design for The Dublin Inquirer Newspaper in celebration of Irish biodiversity, invites the reader to participate in the piece by finishing colouring it in. Illustrated by artist Marie Gordon
Cover Art for Feb/Mar 2022 issue of Newspaper Dublin Inquirer by Marie Gordon
This piece for issue 71 of The Dublin Inquirer Newspaper is in celebration of Irish biodiversity and invites the reader to participate in the piece by finishing colouring it in & (if they like) share their work by tagging @dublininquirer or @mild.ie on instagram.
I originally pitched 4 cover ideas through rough , mock ups based on the cover idea of a half coloured in illustration celebrating Irish wildlife, that encouraged the reader to participate in the piece by finishing it. The client choose image no. 1 which includes a mix of Moths and Butterflys on native Irish plants. Next I did a bit more research on which plants which insects prefer and where, then began creating a more detailed illustration based on the pitched layout. My process involved hand drawing, scanning, cleaning up and colouring in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
Original mock ups created to pitch 4 cover ideas to the lovely Dublin Inquirer team.
All of the plants and insects drawn in this piece occur at different times of the year across Bull Island, North Dublin - a National Nature Reserve designated by Unesco of significant importance because of its rare habitats and wildlife. I used the amazing book ‘The Wildlife of the Bull Island’ by Proinsias Mac an Bheatha to research moths and butterflies, also looking into what plants they prefer to land on, as well as, The National Biodiversity Data Centre’s catalogue of species. This piece includes 14 species in total; a Burnet Moth, alongside one of it’s favourites Marsh Ragwort, Sea-milk Wort, a ‘big’ Small Tortorise, Sea Aster, a Meadow ButterCup with a beautiful iridescent Forester Moth on it, the Larva of a Cinnabar Moth, Wild Carrot, two Bumble Bees, Birds Foot Trefoil, Devil's Bit Scabious, a Common Blue Butterfly and a Marsh Fritillary.
Abundance in nature, it’s beauty and fragility is something I was thinking about while creating this piece and hoped that the added participatory element might mirror this idea of engaging more with our natural surroundings, allowing for an opportunity of curiosity and play. I often walk along bull island and will now be looking around myself a little more carefully to hopefully spot more of these critters.
Learn more about the North Bull Island on The Dublin Bay Biosphere website and if you are interested in engaging more with our natural environment take part in some of the National Biodiversity Data Centre engagement projects; especially their annual Flower-Insect Times Count (great citizen science accessible and fun for adults and kids!)
A Common Blue Butterfly awaiting colouring in…