Ree's quilt, Spruce Smoke (from In a Time of Change: The Art of Fire) has been competitively selected by the U.S. Global Change Research Program for inclusion in the upcoming National Climate Assessment.
This was the first year that this research program had a call for art for the report. The National Climate Assessment is prepared and submitted to the White House and Congress every four years.
From Ree's acceptance letter:
Art x Climate received over 800 submissions from youth and adult artists across the country, and our juries ultimately recommended 90 pieces to be featured in the NCA.
The final body of work covers an incredible breadth of subject matter. From quilted wildfires to linocut hurricanes and painted permafrost, the talent is tremendous.
Your work is deeply moving and together the Art x Climate collection depicts the enormity of climate change in the US. While the NCA has always been the preeminent report on climate change in the United States, Art x Climate will add a critical new dimension: elevating the perspectives of artists, evoking reckoning and hope, and bringing more people into the climate conversation. Your work is extremely important and helps the issue of climate change reach the hearts and minds of the American public.
The last NCA was read by more than a million people across the country and around the world, and we expect greater interest in NCA5; Art x Climate will invite even more conversation and engagement. The inclusion of your work in the National Climate Assessment demonstrates what is possible when artists and scientists collaborate.
We have already begun to witness the energy that Art x Climate has inspired, from the White House to the NCA authors to our network of colleagues who are eager to spread the word. We hope and expect that this project will serve as a model for future efforts.
The selection of this work was covered by the University of Alaska, which has some additional details and some quotes from Ree which you can read about here.
"It’s hard to distinguish the line in Ree Nancarrow’s work where the dedicated botanist ends and the meticulous fiber artist begins. Her quilt pieces depict the natural world and its life cycles, often simultaneously zooming in to the microbial level and out to larger landscapes.
"Nancarrow’s quilt “Spruce Smoke” was recently selected by the U.S. Global Change Research Program for inclusion in its Fifth National Climate Assessment. Such assessments, considered the preeminent analyses of climate change, are submitted to the White House and Congress every four years."
You can see all selected works at the Art × Climate Gallery website.
Spruce Smoke
