We are all the frog
In the apocryphal story*, a frog in a pot of cool water set on a stove will fail to notice the water's slowly rising temperature, until it is boiled alive. When it comes to recognizing the growing impacts climate change is having on our own lives, many of us are the proverbial frog. Fortunately this is changing.
A 2016 study by Pew Research Center found that approximately 40% of Americans expected climate change to cause environmental damage. By spring 2020, about 60% of those surveyed said climate change is affecting their community. Still, climate communication research finds that most people have a shaky understanding of climate data and science, undermining their ability to understand what climate solutions look like.
Here's where Free The Museum-style projects can shine! Whether you focus on equity, health, biodiversity, innovation, or art, there is a climate story you can help people understand. And what better place to do that than out in your community, where the people are?
*No frogs were boiled in the making of this newsletter. You shouldn't do it either.
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Turning Climate Data Into Art
Artist and landscape architecture professor Carolina Aragon’s public art pieces make local climate impacts visual and tactile. Iridescent discs in her installation "High Tide @ The World Bank" marks sea level rise at the Bank’s Washington DC headquarters, as projected by NOAA in its extreme, intermediate high, and intermediate low forecasting scenarios.
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Asking the Questions
An activation doesn't have to be "about" climate change to tackle the heart of the problem: the tragedy of the commons. On the Boston Common, artist Janet Zweig's 32-day experimental installation, "What Do We Have in Common?" includes climate-relevant questions such as "Who owns the future?" and "Who owns nature?"
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Artful Resiliency Solutions: Stormwater
Landscape architects Eliza Pennypacker and Stuart Echols promote "Artful Rainwater Design" to make stormwater management (a critical part of climate resilience in urban areas) visible, beautiful, and educational. As an example, they point to this rain scupper by artist Ivan McLean, that directs rainwater off a Portland, Oregon retail market roof via a metal rod river filled with sculptural salmon swimming upstream.
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Artful Resiliency Solutions: Extreme Heat
Want lots of inspiration? The Metropolitan Area Planning Council in Massachusetts has put out this step-by-step "how to" guide for creating public art installations that help mitigate urban heat islands. For examples of such projects across the US (including partners and funding sources), check out this slide deck.
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Looking for more ideas and inspiration?
Click the Free Tools button below for our Guidebook and brainstorm-prompting Tactic Cards.
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Free The Museum Article
In the Fall issue of Exhibition journal, you'll find our article about Free The Museum: our origins, descriptions of some of our favorite projects, challenges and opportunities, and lessons for the museum field. The magazine is published by the American Alliance of Museum's National Association for Museum Exhibition. If you're a subscriber, it's the very first article. If not, and you don't feel like waiting a whole year for the article to go online with AAM, we've got it for you on the Community page of our website!
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Got a project to share? Please do!
Our archive includes projects that are completed, currently installed, or still in the schematic phase. It's all inspiration for the rest of us!
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