environmentally conscious art

WOOLPUNK®: “Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky in the Garden State” Debuts at the Montclair Art Museum

September 13, 2022

For over two decades, Jersey City-based WOOLPUNK®  has been fashioning art that is at once visually captivating and socially stirring. Working largely with recycled textiles, found objects, photographs, and text-based imagery, she addresses such issues as environment endangerment, economic inequality and homelessness. Within the past year, her rich and inventive creations have made their way into a diverse range of sites including the World Trade Center, Bergdorf Goodman, and FIT’s Art and Design Gallery.

Currently on view at the Montclair Art Museum is WOOLPUNK®’s hugely impressive Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky in the Garden State. Based on a photograph of a community garden in Jersey City, the final production, 30 feet wide x 13 feet long, features recycled textiles on an embroidered photo. All of the materials used — clothing, fabric scraps and assorted textiles — were donated in response to the artist’s open call to the MAM community. And anything that wasn’t used was then donated to the Salvation Army.

Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky in the Garden State brilliantly brings attention to landfill waste that is comprised largely of clothing while questioning our penchant for the newest fashion trends. Featured above is the artist in front of her work. Several close-ups from Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky follow:

A small segment

The graffiti’d sky — which while beautiful, also “reminds us of the air-polluted sunsets”

More sunflowers

A closer look at the details

Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky in the Garden State remains on view through August 6, 2023. Located at 3 S Mountain Ave in Montclair, NJ, the Montclair Art Museum is open Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Photos 1-4, Lois Stavsky; 5, Courtesy of the artist

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National Geographic Celebrates Earth Day with Murals Across the US

April 22, 2022

In celebration of Earth Day, National Geographic has partnered with ABC Owned Television Stations (OTV) and local artists in four major cities to fashion murals centered on four themes: wildlife, the Amazon, forests and oceans. All of the murals have been inspired by photos from National Geographic’s archive.

The image featured above was painted here in NYC by Brooklyn-based muralist and illustrator Steffi Lynn. Several more images of environmentally-conscious murals that have surfaced this month in collaboration with National Geographic follow:

A close-up from the NYC mural — fashioned by Steffi Lynn — located at 573 Johnson Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Philadelphia-based muralist and multimedia artist Eurhi Jones in partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia

Philadelphia-based Eurhi Jones with a close-up of her mural located at the Overbrook Environmental Education Center. 

The prolific Chicago-based self-taught street artist Sentrock at work

 A wide view of Sentrock and his mural located at ABC Chicago station’s building façade at 190 N State Street

 San Francisco-based illustrator and muralist Alice Lee in partnership with Paint the Void adds the final touches to her mural

Alice Lee with her completed mural, located at the intersection of Divisadero and Haight streets

Featured photos courtesy of National Geographic’s #NatGeoPlanetPossible project

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The Audubon Mural Project, Part II: On Upper Manhattan Streets and at the New York Historical Society: Snoeman, George Boorujy, Jacinta Stewart, Marthalicia & Damien Mitchell

December 22, 2020

Upper Manhattan — the place John Audubon had called home — hosts a huge range of public artworks featuring images of  climate-endangered birds. Within a few blocks of the recently-installed mosaic mural — fashioned by Carlos Pinto and John Sear — over a dozen murals have made their way into the neighborhood since I’d last documented the hugely impressive Audubon Mural Project back in 2018.

The image featured above, “Goose Gets Down,” was recently painted by the legendary NYC-based Snoeman. Several more murals of endangered birds follow — all curated by Avi Gitler, who founded and spearheads this remarkable  project.

Brooklyn-based George Boorujy, Gang of Warblers

Also by George Boorujy, Greater Sage-Grouse

Australian-born Jacinta Stewart, American Three-toed Woodpecker and Bullock’s Oriole — segment of larger mural that also features a Red-breasted Sapsucker

Harlem-based Marthalicia Matarrita, Gray Hawk

And as seen last week at the New York Historical Society on the Upper West Side: Brooklyn-based Australian native Damien Mitchell, Peregrine Falcon, photographed by Mike Fernandez/Audubon

Photo credits: 1 City-as-School student Jasper Shepard; 2-6 Lois Stavsky

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NYC-based Greenpoint Innovations Teams Up With Barcelona-Based Artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada to Inspire Climate Action

December 30, 2019

During the UN Climate Change Conference COP 25 held earlier this month in Madrid, Spain, NYC-based Greenpoint Innovations teamed up with Barcelona-based, Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada.

Two new street art murals, fashioned by the hugely talented artist for the first international activation of Greenpoint Innovations‘ art plus purpose series, now grace Madrid’s visual landscape as they bring awareness to the impact of climate change.

Pictured above is Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada‘s completed mural, Past, Present, Future, featuring a portrait of Hilda Pérez, a leader of the Indigenous Ashaninka Community and Vice President of ONAMIAP, the    National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru.  Several more images of the two murals, captured by photographer Fer Alcalá, follow:

Past, Present, Future — in progress

Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada at work on Forest Focus — an eye of Planet Earth with the Amazon rainforest as the pupil and Chile clearly visible as a homage to the official COP 25 host country. The mural shines a light on the opportunity to address natural forest loss as a pathway to climate stability, habitat conservation, and ecosystems preservation.

Forest Focus, the completed mural

Greenpoint Innovations founder and curator Stephen Donofrio with Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada

The wall host for the murals is the Occupational Center in Lineal City ( Centro Ocupacional Ciudad Lineal), a center for people with intellectual disabilities.  Aligned with the goals of GreenPoint EARTH, this facility is dedicated to helping people develop professional, personal and social skills.

The project was completed with support from local and global organizations — including the City and Community of Madrid, UNFCCC, National Wildlife Federation International, Arbor Day Foundation and Forest Trends.

Photos: Fer Alcalá 

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