Artist Brigade
Bringing arts and artists to the front lines of climate action
Artist Brigade is a leaderless, national movement. Our goal is to bring imagination, vision and the heart of artists into the telling of the climate story in order to mobilize a society paralyzed by climate anxiety and grief. We work in cross-sector partnerships with those currently telling the climate narrative, environmental organizations, activists, scientists, journalists, and scholars.
Artist Brigade 100
In 2022, we welcomed the first official cohort of the Artist Brigade to bring arts and artists to the front lines of climate action. The artists were selected from a large pool of applicants to spend the year meeting and learning, going on field trips, partnering with others telling the climate story, and, as David Maggs says, ‘reauthoring the world’
Basic Training
We began with Greenhouse, a two-day paid intensive for 100 artists. Greenhouse took place outdoors in the sunshine at UBC Botanical Gardens with the goals of climate literacy and new perspectives on the role of the artist in the climate crisis, connecting both with our ancestors and a hopeful future
Field Work
After the artists completed Greenhouse, they had the opportunity to go on one of 4 ‘field trips’ to places where they could see the climate in crisis. Afterwards, artists had the chance to pitch artistic projects that addressed the crisis. Some of the pitches were commissioned and all of their work was paid.
Front Line Action
We work with the others in society that are telling the climate story: environmental organizations, scientists, activists, journalists, and government. By partnering on tough questions, we can bring forth big ideas, that vivify and mobilize society at this critical time.
The Work
