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What Alaska is Telling the World About Climate Change
Alaska is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, and climate change impacts range from melting permafrost releasing methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, infrastructure eroding into the ocean, compromised survival of animal species, and changing subsistence patterns affecting food security. Changes in Alaska’s landscape have a global impact. Why We Won’t Just Leave is a virtual exhibition curated by Lindsay Carron that highlights the responses of Alaskans to their rapidly changing environment and delivers messages that are key for us all if we are to reverse climate catastrophe and cultivate a healthy, vibrant future for generations to come. From activists delivering testimonies in D.C. and artists revealing truth with beauty, to scientists studying methane released from melting permafrost, Alaska has a message for the world. Why We Won’t Just Leave features portraits, paintings, photography, stories, and video and audio profiles of over 15 artists, scientists, writers and activists responding to climate change in Alaska.
Why We Won’t Just Leave debuts virtually at the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) in February 2021 corresponding with ancillary programming for youth and individuals.
We need you! Everyday, SPARC works to create access to socially engaged art for individuals and families in Los Angeles and across the globe. Why We Won't Just Leave introduces Alaska as a major player in the world’s climate crisis. The collection of artworks in this exhibitions encourages audiences to uncover tangible connections and action points, and inspires ways to enact change in their own communities.
We need your support to bring Why We Won't Just Leave to local and global audiences through virtual curation and programming. A gift today supports...
* The development and presentation of a virtual gallery exhibition
* Physical materials and supplies to support the virtual exhibition and programming
* Ancillary programs that engage adults and youth in deeper explorations of climate change
Thank you for your contribution!
Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
“Tundra Shelf” by Bill Brody. 44"x72" painted entirely on location in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Oil and Alkyd on Canvas. 2007.
Tundra Shelf depicts an area of floodplain colonized by dryas, one of the first plants to grow in recently thawed permafrost or areas exposed by glacial retreat. This painting was done more than 10 years after another visit to ANWR. One notable change in the landscape was that there were house-sized blocks of peaty tundra shelf sloughing off into the river: evidence that the floodplain was in the process of irreversible alteration.
“Tundra Woman: Portrait of Yup’ik Elder Sophie Sakar Berry Picking on Alaska Tundra” by Lindsay Carron. 4.5' x 7'. Ink and Colored Pencil on Paper. 2019.
Yup’ik elder Sophie Sakar leads me through her favorite blueberry patches in the tundra outside of her home in Chuathbaluk, Alaska along the Kuskokwim River. Her stories of living from the land inspired me to share her lifestyle through this portrait with the hope that it would inspire us all to come a little closer to the land that holds us.
We appreciate your generous support. It will be put to work immediately to bring Why We Won't Just Leave to local and global audiences through a virtual gallery exhibition. We look forward to seeing you at the virtual opening reception at the end of February 2021!
Why We Won't Just Leave is curated by Lindsay Carron and presented by the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC).