Pink & Blue Art Show at Howland Cultural Center

The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York, who has been appointed the co-chair of the US Climate Alliance, announced on the 15th anniversary of Climate Week NYC last year that the largest annual climate summit, which is held alongside the United Nations General Assembly, would become an even larger climate event as it would be celebrated state-wide going forward.

With Governor Hochul’s announcement in mind, for 2024 Climate Week NYC, I began searching for a Hudson Valley art, culture, and history institution to hold an international group art show that celebrated how the environmental movement in the US, which began in 1962 in the Hudson Valley with a 17 yearlong successful lawsuit against power company Con Edison,  spread around the world. My attention focused on Beacon as it is located at Hudson Valley’s highest point with the best Hudson River views. 

Folk singer Pete Seeger, who is most associated with the Environmental movement in the Hudson Valley, also lived in Beacon, NY. He established an organization called Clearwater, which built a sloop that is free for the public to ride from Beacon to explore the beauty of the Hudson River. In 2004, the sloop Clearwater was named to the National Register of Historic Places for its groundbreaking role in the environmental movement and its dedication to the preservation of the Hudson River.

Beacon is also one of the most charming towns and an important cultural center home to Kube Art Center, Dia Museum of Art, and Howland Cultural Center, a hub for art, culture, and history straight across the street from a waterfall. Referred to as the Jewel of Beacon, Howland Cultural Center is located in the historic 1872 Richard Morris Hunt building that is landmarked and also energized by clean geothermal energy.

So, needless to say, I was very fortunate to be granted the juried support of the Howland Cultural Center board of directors: Theresa Kraft, President; Thomas de Villiers, Vice President; and Craig Wolf, Secretary, to curate the Pink & Blue art show, which will take place from August 10 to September 29, 2024. The art show will run parallel to the United Nations General Assembly meeting and Climate Week NYC, which will be celebrated state-wide for the first time this year. 

Artists Exhibiting At The Pink and Blue Art Show

The art show will feature work by award-winning Hudson Valley and international environmental photographers Ross Corsair, Zinnia Gutowski, Ian Hutton, Mene Liondos, Jim Richards, Alfons Rodriguez (COP28),  and painters Semine Hazar (COP26), Fatma Kadir (COP26, 28), Mehmet Kuran (COP26, 28), Selva Ozelli (COP26, 27, 28), Ilhan Sayin (COP26, 28) who have exhibited at museums, United Nations Environmental & Climate Change Conferences (COP 26-28) around the world.

For the Opening video, click here.

Undoubtedly, pink sunsets might look lovely, especially when eternally captured in photographs and artwork. But the pink hue in the skies shows the presence of pollutants in the air.

Pollutants such as smoke, CO2, and haze can scatter the shorter, red wavelengths of light, giving the sky a pink or reddish color. Hudson Valley photographers Ross Corsair and Jim Richards marvelously capture the pink and blue sunsets of the Hudson River.

Photographer and Naturalist Ian Hutton brings us the radiant sunsets of UNESCO Heritage Site Lord Howe Island of Australia, and photographer Mene Liondos presents the sunsets of the Evros River, which witnessed the 2023 Evros wildfires, the largest ever recorded in the EU, which raged for more than a fortnight and destroyed 96,600 hectares (239,000 acres) of forests, including a national park.

The Evros wildfires, of course, paled compared to Canada's 2023 wildfire season, the fumes of which could be tasted and smelled in the air in New York. These wildfires were the most destructive ever recorded. By September 5, more than 6,000 fires had torched a staggering 16.5 million hectares of land. To put that in perspective, that's an area even larger than Greece, according to a report prepared by Natural Resources Canada.

According to a United States Department of Agriculture report, numerous species, including birds, are impacted by polluted air, global warming, and wildfires.  Hudson Valley photographers Zinnia Gutowski, Ian Hutton, Spanish photographer Alfons Rodriguez, and oil artist Fatma Kadir draw our attention to the impact of climate change on water birds with their work.

With his popular folk song  “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?  and a recent study, Pete Seeger reminds us that nearly half of the world’s known flowering plants and butterflies face a wide range of threats, including habitat loss and climate change.

Hudson Valley oil artist, me, oil artist Ilhan Sayin, and ink artist Mehmet Kuran, with our artwork, draw attention to the impact of climate change on flowers, butterflies, and biodiversity. 

The ocean acts as a “carbon sink.” According to a study published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and international partners, it absorbs about 31% of the CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere.

Lighthouse oil artist Semine Hazar got her inspiration for her “Sea Watcher” series based on  the NOAA findings that “More than 90% of the warming that has happened on Earth over the past 50 years has occurred in the ocean.”

Oceans are warming at the same rate as if five Hiroshima bombs were being dropped into them every second. This has contributed to rising sea levels from melting ice sheets in the Arctic, which is also warming faster than the rest of the world. Photographer Alfons Rodriguez, with his Melting Age Series of photography and film, captures the impacts of climate change in seven continents and thirty countries.

During the duration of the six-week Pink & Blue Art Show, when Beacon’s trees will begin changing into lovely fall colors, there will be two events I hope you can attend:

The Opening Event, which will be held on August 10 from 1 to 3 p.m., will feature speakers from Clearwater Foundation, cultural documentarian Karen Michel of the “What Matters” Project, and artists Zinnia Gutowski, Fatma Kadir, Selva Ozelli, and Jim Richards.

Climate Week NYC Event will feature speakers from Clearwater Foundation, other international environmental and art institutions including but not limited to the world’s first climate change museum CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change Hong Kong.

Deborah Hart, Chair of CLIMARTE, who will participate in the Pink & Blue Climate Week NYC Event from Australia, said,

“The powerful artwork in the Pink and Blue Art Show helps us connect with our deep feelings about what’s really at stake from the Climate Emergency. And invites us to consider all means available to hold those most responsible for it - dating back to the 1960s - to account, as they’re now doubling down spreading yet more disinformation to maintain their ‘business as usual’ (obscene) profits.”