CARBON ARTS | creative solutions for a changing climate find us on: 
Ecolabs is a not-for-profit organisation – a network of visual artists and designers – working for ecological literacy through the creation of materials, projects and programs that foster a transformational vision for a sustainable future. EcoLabs also publishes Ecomag, a design publication about systems change. Calls are out for the second edition on Ecological Economics, submissions due May 2010.
Tipping Point is a UK based organisation dedicated to harnessing imagination in the fight to stabilise the climate. A network-based organisation, Tipping Point connects artists and climate scientists through events, conference and public debates. In addition, Tipping Point provides science briefings for artists and works with arts organisations to address their own climate impact and potential for leveraging change.
ecoartspace, created in 1997 by Tricia Watts, was one of the first organisations dedicated to art and environmental issues. The organisation is diverse in its approach to connecting arts and environment, but places special emphasis on education and connecting people aesthetically with a broader view of their place within a larger ecosystem.
The Avoca Project is the initiative of established Australian artist, Lyndal Jones. In the drought-affected Victorian town of Avoca, this European house alonside a dried-up riverbed provides an appropriate home to exhibitions, symposia, projects and events that draw community attention to the historical causes and effects of climate change. The Avoca project engages with local and international artists, scientists, experts and the community in a 10 year effort to effect change through creative, collaborative action. Long-term works that address resource use at the property seek to establish a practical and poetic approach to sustainability, such as the water tank that doubles as a soundscape. An annual festival takes place in October.
HotHouse is a think-tank initiated by the National Institute of Experimental Arts (NIEA), UNSW, which aims to bring together creative thinkers in a quest to develop models for sustainable environmental change. It launched with a two-day symposium in association with Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design and the City of Sydney, which took place at the Opera House from 27-28 July 2010. Twenty-five speakers across arts, design, architecture and sustainability, including Carbon Arts, presented to a packed audience. A stimulating two days about curating (caring for) public space, it will be interesting to see how HotHouse evolves. A blog has been created, so watch this space.
The Canary Project is Edward Morris and Susannah Sayler, two Americans who have successfully set out to meet the aims of this organisation to energise action on climate change through the production of visual art, design and events that increase understanding of climate change with the public. Since 2006, The Canary Project has generated and supported a diverse body of work, and remains one of only two US arts organisations solely dedicated to art about climate change.
The UK Royal Society of the Arts’ Arts and Ecology program began in 2005 to challenge, support and catalyse artists responding to unprecedented environmental change. In 2009 the program focused on climate change with an impressive collection of events and supported artists. The RSA website provides an excellent online source of information on art and climate related events, as well as project details and an active and interesting blog.
Cape Farewell Expedition
Cape Farewell was created by David Buckland in 2001 to instigate a cultural response to climate change. Since then Cape Farewell has organised a series of expeditions of artists, communicators and scientists to the High Arctic. The results are published in a book, on the web in a blog, on a DVD of a show that aired on the BBC and throughout exhibitions where these artists have been invited. Behind the organisation is a belief that artists – with their unique vision and approach – can assist in a cultural values shift that engages the public in avoiding dangerous climate change.
“Julie’s Bicycle was created almost three years ago by a cross section of people from across the music industry who felt strongly about the need for concerted action to improve the environmental impact of the music business. We are a not for profit company with a small staff and a board made up of senior figures from the music industry.” – ony Wadsworth, Julie’s Bicycle Chair and BPI Chairman.
Julie’s bicycle has achieved much in assisting the music, and now the theatre, industry to address their own carbon footprint and leverage their role to reach out to the broader community to affect change.
Seven Thousand Oaks is a Melbourne-based organisation aiming to become a repository of information of and for artists addressing the issue of sustainability in their work, as well as a place to celebrate artists work in this field and connect artists with sustainability professionals. 7KO also ran a festival in July 2010 in Melbourne, hosting over 20 artists exploring the issue of sustainability through music, visual art, performance and installation. This included a catalogue of essays and a field trip to plant trees.