“Footing the Bill: Art and Our Ecological Footprint” is an invitational and crowd-sourced exhibition of artwork addressing the urgent need to live sustainably within the Earth’s finite resources.
In our daily lives, we consume natural resources and produce wastes that must be absorbed by the Earth’s environment. As the human population grows and global consumption continues to increase, we will make ever-increasing demands upon the forests, pastures, cropland, fisheries and other biologically productive areas of this planet we call home.
Today, humanity uses the equivalent of 1.5 planets to satisfy our demands for natural resources and waste absorption — i.e., we are in “ecological overshoot.” In addition, based on current projections of resource use and carbon dioxide emission, we are on track to require the resources of two planets well before mid-century.
Can we all live well and within the means of one Earth? Or will we continue to overshoot our planet’s capacity to support human life and biodiversity?
Art Works For Change, along with our partners at Global Footprint Network and Earth Day Network, invite you to join the conversation on ecological overshoot. Submit your original artwork as a digital image for an opportunity to be featured in our online exhibition, which will open on Earth Overshoot Day 2015 (August). Help us amplify the call to action through the unique voice of contemporary art.
CALL TO ARTISTS
Eligibility
- Open to all artists 18 years and older
- Work must be original
- Work may be in any medium that can be represented by a digital image, including painting, photography, sculpture, land art, video and performance art
Entry procedure
- There is NO ENTRY FEE to apply for this exhibition opportunity
- Complete the entry form (below) and SUBMIT BY June 30, 2015
- Artists are invited to upload up to 3 images. If you wish to be considered for a video submission, you may upload stills from the video as images (video files will not be accommodated)
- We encourage applicants to take the Ecological Footprint Quiz to gain more insight into the exhibition theme
For ideas and inspiration, click here.
Submissions will be judged by Art Works For Change, and artists will be notified of their inclusion in our exhibition and our Earth Overshoot Day social media campaign.
ABOUT THE SPONSORS
Art Works For Change is a nonprofit organization that creates contemporary art exhibitions to address critical social and environmental issues. Our museum-quality exhibitions are hosted by fine art institutions all over the world, and feature artists whose work promotes awareness, provokes dialogue and inspires action.
Global Footprint Network promotes the science of sustainability by advancing the Ecological Footprint, a resource accounting tool that makes sustainability measurable. Together with its partners, Global Footprint Network works to further improve and implement this science by coordinating research, developing methodological standards, and providing decision-makers with robust resource accounts to help the human economy operate within the Earth’s ecological limits.
Earth Day Network works year-round with thousands of partners worldwide to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement. We lead environmental campaigns, promote green economic policies, educate the public and energize communities to secure a healthy future for themselves and their children.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
Attributed to Author Wendell Berry.
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
Polar Explorer Robert Swan.
