Saturday, June 1st
Introduction
In collaboration with BCNY partner Art Resistance Through Education (ARTE), BCNY members toured a special climate change exhibit at Poster House. ARTE, a longtime partner, brings art programming to youth members with the belief “that young people are experts in their own experiences and should be provided the framework to amplify their voices and participate in meaningful change.” Sharing this belief and approach to youth programming, we have seen members’ confidence to express themselves through art emerge during special events like these.
We Tried to Warn You!
Titled, “We Tried to Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970-2020,” the exhibit gave members a glimpse into how artists across generations have communicated the imperative of preventing the environmental crisis. The exhibit inspired members, displaying graphic design techniques that novice and professional artists can learn from.
The posters, like their subject, had an apocalyptic yet urgent tone. The exhibit’s curator, Tim Medland, described it as such: “Every poster in this exhibition is a failure—not in the sense that they failed in their graphic intent of communicating a message, but rather that they failed to successfully modify behavior. Almost all of the environmental issues showcased in these posters remain or have worsened.”
Equipped with a guided scavenger hunt provided by ARTE’s founder, Marissa Gutiérrez-Vicario, members digested the posters’ themes, messages, and artistic styles, discussing with each other how posters relate to their past experiences and pre-existing knowledge.
Exploring Poster House
After touring the exhibit, members spent their remaining time exploring Poster House. They stumbled upon an interactive room, featuring a (now) retro phone booth, a cityscape whiteboard where members can choose the colors that dot hats and neon signs, and a tool that shows how layers of different colors can interact to make one poster design.
ARTE Workshop & Members’ Art
Afterward, members convened at the BCNY admin office to create their own posters around climate justice. Marissa and ARTE intern, Aishwarya, led the activity, sharing their experiences around art and environmental justice. We were blown away by how insightful and creative members’ artworks were. With each member utilizing their unique style and vision, members told environmental stories through their drawings.
Through irony, one member captured a simple yet fundamental obstacle to environmentalism. His drawing depicts a man standing next to a tree he presumably cut down with an axe next to him; the tree, along with the background, is barren, surrounded by yellow money bags or coins. The scene and its message are brought together by a message at the top: “Money does grow on trees.” His artwork is a play on the classic idiom “money doesn’t grow on trees,” a message to warn someone of spending too much money as there is only a limited amount. Unlike the idiom, here we see that money is not limited when it comes to stressing the environment’s finite resources. This clear-eyed piece, like the others members created, showed us that members are aware of climate justice and know what needs to be done.
We are so proud of members for courageously expressing their thoughts and thankful to ARTE for another wonderful partnership.