Because (Racial Synecdoche)

S. Ross Browne, American

Because (Racial Synecdoche), 2015

S. Ross Browne painted an image illustrating the unproportionate effects of environmental justice faced by people of color. Browne shows an African American man holding a young child, who can be assumed to be his son, in front of a city that seems to be in distress with buildings on fire, smoke, and helicopters flying around. The despair in the subjects’ faces convey the hardships and environmental injustices faced by African American families and communities. In this picture, Browne is specifically indicating those injustices faced by populations of color in urban areas. Label by Lindsey Smith

Police Arrest 10 People as Mountain Valley Pipeline Protests Top 932 Days, ca. 2021

Lynn Englum, American

Police Arrest 10 People as Mountain Valley Pipeline Protests Top 932 Days, ca. 2021, 2021

Lynn Eglum is a researcher and blogger for for an environmental non-profit based in Washington DC who’s commentary primarily focuses on climate change, development, and the environment; her work often depicts the landscapes and species disappearing due to climate change. This photo features a handmade banner showing the pipeline cutting through an idyllic Virginian landscape, and represents the landscape these people hope to protect. The protesters hold their arms up in a motion of defiance, the same raised fist that often represents the Black Lives Matter movement. The environmental justice movement is frequently driven by the communities in which injustices are enacted, and this photo is a prime example of the actions and art that are produced by people in response. Label by Molly McCarthy Flood

Blued Tree with Cows, 2016

Aviva Rahmani, American, born 1945

Blued Tree with Cows, 2016, 2016

Art-activist Aviva Rahmani created The Blued Trees Symphony, a project of one-third-mile long musical measures along the forested paths where natural gas pipelines and pipeline expansion projects had been proposed. Individual trees along the proposed route of construction were mapped and painted with blue buttermilk paint. Using the geographic configuration of each tree, Rahami transferred each painted tree into a musical note, or "tree note", creating a full symphony. The symphony was then copyrighted as a means to halt pipeline construction. Rahmani's project demonstrates how art can both legally preserve and celebrate nature. Label by Isabel Williams

The Earth is not for Sale

Ricardo Levins Morales, American, born 1967

The Earth is not for Sale, 2015

Ricardo Levins Morales is an artist and an organizer based in Minneapolis. He uses his art as a form of protest and collective healing from injuries and ongoing reality of oppression. He was born into the anti-colonial movement in his native Puerto Rico. Ricardo's work is widely used by grassroots movements, organizations and communities. Statement from the artist’s website:

"The fossil fuel industry possesses an insatiable appetite. First Nations and native activists stand on the front line of defense against their assault on Mother Earth. This poster depicts an oil executive reaching out his hand in a demand. The native elders say no – you cannot take what belongs to everyone.”

Label by Isabel Schreur