2024 Environmental Justice Artivist Fellowship® Empowers Artists to Drive Change In Climate

Social Art and Culture, in collaboration with the Arts Program at the Aspen, pioneered a sustainable framework where artivists impact climate change in DC.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, February 22, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — In response to NASA’s alarming findings regarding record-breaking temperatures in the summer of 2023, the Fifth National Climate Assessment showing D.C. region climate risks, and the recent release of Carbon Free DC strategy, Social Art and Culture, in collaboration with the Arts Program at the Aspen, is pioneering a sustainable economic framework where artivists play a pivotal role alongside scientists, researchers, and climate experts to confront the impacts of climate change and environmental injustice in the District. This dynamic call to action manifested in the Environmental Justice Artivist Fellowship^® 2024 (EJA Fellowship).

Karen Baker, Co-Founder and Board President of Social Art and Culture, articulates the mission: “We plan to address the most fragile ecosystems in the DC Wards 5, 7, and 8 by using art as a strategy for science communication, a vehicle for equitable social change and social good. Art is intertwined with activism, emphasizing the indispensable role of artists in amplifying marginalized voices and catalyzing transformative action is required now more than ever.” She further emphasizes that Artivists’ seats at the table in these conversations have been missing, highlighting their need for the resources, research, funding, and data to be stewards of culture and climate.

Nine distinguished fellows have been selected to lead this transformative endeavor, encompassing diverse artistic disciplines and expertise. Under the theme of Community Resilience, these fellows will collaborate over nine months [March 11-November 14, 2024] to develop innovative approaches to climate and environmental justice through artistic practice. Their focus areas include Clean Air, Water Quality and Safety, Clean Energy, Equity in Food Systems, and Land Pollution and Waste to deliver impactful capstone projects alongside engaging residents of Wards 5, 7, and 8.

“Artists are vital voices in the conversation about climate change,” said Aspen Institute’s Vice President of Policy Programs and Director of the Arts Program, Danielle Baussan. “The work of these artists and others reveals the fate of inaction, and the future we should all strive toward. Through our collaboration with Social Art and Culture, these Artivist Fellows will have the platform to directly engage with leading policy across a broad spectrum of climate solutions.”

Meet the nine fellows leading this charge for change. Noël Kassewitz, Visual Artist, Leonina Arismendi, Multi-Disciplinary Artist, Lynda Andrews-Barry, Artist, Murat Cem Mengüç, Ph.D., Artist, Billy Frieble, Multimedia Visual Artist, Sherri Roberts Lumpkin, Doll-maker / Mix-Media Collage, Stephanie Garon, Environmental Artist, Melani N. Douglass, Curator/ Socially Engaged Artist, and Jaren Hill Lockridge, Community Storyteller + Memory Keeper.

The fellowship’s significance is further underscored by support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, East Arts grant. “Artists for years have been a catalyst for social justice, be it racial, educational, or environmental. The activism of the artist has always magnified injustices primarily in our marginalized communities,” said Aaron Myers, Executive Director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. “Our Commission is proud to support this fellowship in an effort to cultivate more artists who will enter the fight for social change,” Director Myers added.

Karen Baker
Social Art and Culture
+1 202-409-7757
[email protected]
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