Climate is a common inspiration for art in the past and present. Numerous examples of such art pieces, exhibits, and themes are listed below, and their connections to climate are explored and highlighted.
The drop-down menus below contain links to in-site webpages developed by the Smith College Climate in Arts and History team. The display above features selected images from these pages. The Exploration (In Progress) menu lists additional topics that are in development to become full-length entries.
Abbreviations:
- CE = Common Era
- c. = circa (approximately)
The Little Ice Age (c. 1300-1850 CE)
- Kameyama: Clear Weather after Snow, Station 47, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (1832) by Hiroshige
- Lithographs from the Alps
- Winter Landscape Paintings by Dutch and English Masters
- Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) by Emanuel Gottlieb Luetze
The Eruption of Mount Tambora (1815-1818 CE)
Modern Climate Change (c. 1980s CE-present)
- Feed Lot (1991) by Sue Coe
- A Future Under Climate Tyranny (A 4℃ Warmer World) (2011) by Maggie Puckett
- Environmental Graphiti (2014-present)
- The peo-ple cried mer-cy in the storm (2018) by Allison Janae Hamilton
- Warming Stripes (2018) by Ed Hawkins
- Water Life (2018) by Aida Muluneh
- Deep Seads (2019) by Hula
- Redo (2019) by James Temte
- Climate in Crisis: Environmental Change in the Indigenous Americas (2020-2023)
- Big Weather (2021-2022)
- Mappings (2022) by Maya Lin
Climate-Inspired Art
- Minoan vs. Classical Greek Paintings
- Winter (n.d.) by George O’Connell
- The Storm is Coming (1950) by Antonio Frasconi
- Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Nuclear Crossroads (1989) by Patrick Nagatani
- Revival Ramp (1996) by Mel Chin
- La Tierra no esta Muriendo esta Siendo Asesinada…(The earth is not dying it is being assassinated) (2010) by La Escuela de Cultura Popular Mártires de 68
- ¿A Quien mataste?… (2010) by La Escuela de Cultura Popular Mártires de 68
- Nature’s Nation: American Art and Environment (2018)
- Scherzo in Gray – Falcon and Mouse (2018-2020) by T. Klacsmann
- The peo-ple cried mer-cy in the storm (2018) by Allison Janae Hamilton
- Water Life (2018) by Aida Muluneh
- Deep Seads (2019) by Hula
- Climate in Crisis: Environmental Change in the Indigenous Americas (2020-2023)
- Inundation: Art and Climate Change in the Pacific (2020)
- Metronome and Its Climate Clock (2020) by Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd
- Borealis: Life in the Woods (2021-2022) by Jeroen Toirkens and Jelle Brandt Corstius
- Ghost Forest (2021) by Maya Lin
- The Great Animal Orchestra (2021-2022) by Bernie Krause
- Land Bodies Ecologies Festival (2023)
Climate Themes in Art
- Climate Change Murals from Around the World
- Mud-based Architecture
- Saharan Cave Art Provides Insight into Past Climate
Indigenous Perspectives
- Saharan Cave Art Provides Insight into Past Climate
- Representations of Colonialism and Climate Change in Art
- Featured Indigenous Artists
- Charlotte Allingham
- Tyana Arviso
- Marcus Trujillo
Articles
- Bentz, J. “Learning About Climate Change In, With and Through Art.” Climatic Change, vol. 162, 2020, pp. 1595-1612. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02804-4.
- Frasz, A. “Can Art Change How We Think About Climate Change?”Grantmakers in the Arts: Supporting Creative America. 2016. https://www.giarts.org/article/can-art-change-how-we-think-about-climate-change.
- Jacobs, T. “How Art Can Inspire Viewers Toward Climate Action.” Pacific Standard. 2019. https://psmag.com/environment/what-makes-activist-art-effective-climate-change.
- Ortiz, D. A. “The Climate Change Clues Hidden in Art History.” British Broadcasting Company. 2020. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200528-the-climate-change-clues-hidden-in-art-history.
- Roosen, L. J., et al. “Visual art as a way to communicate climate change: a psychological perspective on climate change–related art.” World Art, vol. 8, no. 1, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21500894.2017.1375002.
- Smith, W. F. “Climate Change Has Already Transformed Everything About Contemporary Art.” Art in America. 2020. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/climate-change-contemporary-art-1202685626/.
- Sommer, L. K. and Klöckner, C. A. “Does activist art have the capacity to raise awareness in audiences?—A study on climate change art at the ArtCOP21 event in Paris.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, vol. 15, no. 1, 2021, pp. 60-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000247.
Artists
Projects
- Art That Highlights Climate Change
- Data Decision Trees
- Dear Climate
- Future SHORELINE
- How to Move a Landscape
- Inside the Greenhouse: Climate Change Communication Through Theatre, Film, Fine Art, Performance Art and Television Programming
- Ouroboros Project
- Resilience in the Age of Climate Change
- Warming Warning
Teaching Resources