— Written by Lyle Jarvis

Art Imitates Life 🖼️ 

Having spent the week celebrating film as a powerful tool for optimism in the climate movement, we were reminded just how important art is to our mission (and all missions, for that matter). We know emotions are major drivers of climate change perceptions and actions, let’s look back at some of the greatest hits of “climate artivism.”

🏆️ Artist Spotlight: Benjamin Von Wong

In celebrating World Ocean’s Day this past Sunday, we couldn’t help but look back and appreciate the art of Benjamin Von Wong — who has famously used his artistic expression to call out ocean plastics (and the resulting pollution). Using 10,000 plastic bottles from a local waste facility, he created a staggering installation to get more people talking about how our oceans are choking on plastic.

Revisit this old article from the World Economic forum to read Von Wong’s feature, and check out a few other artists using their work to help crush plastic.

And by the way… Happy World Ocean’s Day! In case you haven’t gotten around to celebrating, here are a list of ten awesome nonprofits working in ocean conservation — check them out and consider a donation today.

Von Wong’s greatest hits include a few other large-scale installations we loved: “The Tallest Closet in the World,” created to display the amount of clothing waste the average person generates in a lifetime, and #TurnOffThePlasticTap, a giant faucet spewing thousands of plastic water bottles, which he created for the UN Environment Assembly in 2022.

In an interview we re-read from 2020, Von Wong shared the following quote about keeping optimistic when talking about environmentalism: “You don’t always fight to win. It’s important to stand up for something and do the best you can with what you have. Sitting around and doing nothing is also a choice and it’s a pretty dangerous one.”

More Artist Standouts 🎨 

• In a similar lane, artist and researcher Kat Owens made headlines for displaying a 60-foot, life-sized replica of a whale, made completely out of plastic waste. Visit the whale next time you travel to the Bradley Airport in Connecticut, and read an interview with Kat here on the power of art to create social change.
  

• Maya Lin created What is Missing, a global memorial to biodiversity loss. The multi-sited memorial was designed to present sixth mass extinction of species, connecting this loss to habitat degradation and other environmental concerns around declining biodiversity.
  
  (Cool resource about biodiversity plug: check out this micro site from the New York City biodiversity task force!)
  

• Check out this article from last week to read about how musicians are driving clean energy action with their fans! In that vein, check out Adam Met, who made our list this year of climate creators to watch, who masterfully uses music as his platform for engaging, optimistic climate action!
  

• Vintage feature: Mel Chin created Revival Field and other eco-art projects that explore toxicity, remediation, and forgotten spaces.
  
  Made it through our list? Here’s two more to explore!
  
  1. Yale Climate Connections shares 8 artists in the climate world
  
  2. And 11 more here, thanks to the Climate Reality Project

Climate solutions don’t just come from labs and legislatures (important as they may be). They come also from galleries, stages, city sidewalks, and places like the Hollywood Climate Summit. Artists help pull the climate crisis out of the abstract, making it personal, urgent, and most importantly, possible to act on.

As the year drags on, especially amidst any political headwinds facing the climate movement, let’s keep celebrating creators who help us feel our way forward. Because if the climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our time, art might just be one of our greatest tools for optimism.

Things We’re Watching 🎥 Reading 📚 and Listening to 🎧

🎥 Lecture: How Music Mobilizes, streamed from the 2025 Hollywood Climate Summit

📚️ Nick Van Osdol’s Newsletter Keep Cool is masterfully covering climate tech, energy and more.

🎧️ Sammy Roth’s Boiling Point — last week’s episode on how authoritarianism and environmental destruction are deeply intertwined.

👀 Some Stories You Might Have Missed This Week 🗞️📺:

1. Senate Republicans hint at protecting hydrogen, wind and geothermal tax credits in the budget bill (Canary Media, ESG Dive)

2. Colombia reports a 33% drop in deforestation in early 2025 (AP News)

3. When it comes to climate and the environment, some cooking oils are a cut above. Here’s what to know. (NY Times)