Figuring out new and creative ways to communicate the reality of climate change remains one of the great challenges facing policy-makers, scientists, and advocates. This event brings together two artists with expertise in creating powerful images and visuals about climate science with a veteran science writer and editor to discuss how art can communicate directly and emotionally, and can engage the public, in ways that move beyond the scientific findings and data.
Join the McGillicuddy Humanities Center on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. to explore this topic further. Email mhc@maine.edu to join, or register at: https://tinyurl.com/artofclimate.
Moderator Laura Helmuth, Ph.D. is Editor-in-Chief of Scientific American. She is a science journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering all fields of health, science, technology, and the environment. Prior to joining Scientific American, she was the Science and Health Editor for The Washington Post and has held positions at National Geographic, Slate, Smithsonian, and Science. Helmuth was the President of the National Association of Science Writers from 2016 to 2018 and board member from 2012 to 2016.
Panelist Jill Pelto is a climate scientist and artist based in Westbrook, Maine. Her work focuses on communicating human-environment connections. By incorporating scientific research and data into watercolor paintings, she weaves visual narratives that reveal the benefits and costs of human impacts on this planet. She’s conducted field research around the world, including the mountain glaciers of Washington and the Transantarctic Mountains. She recently created a custom data-art painting for the cover of TIME Magazine in July 2020. Her biography and a gallery of her work can be found at http://www.jillpelto.com/.
Panelist Deirdre Murphy decodes the interconnected patterns that exist in art and science through the lens of biological patterns and data visualization. Her research has led to artist residencies at Integral Molecular Biotech and Winterthur Museum. Her paintings, prints and public art have exhibited at the Philadelphia International Airport, Palm Springs Museum of Art, Zillman Art Museum, Biggs Museum of American Art, New Bedford Art Museum, and Tacoma Art Museum. Her biography and a gallery of her work can be found at http://www.deirdremurphyart.com/.
