Kleese, Goetsch, Gibson, Hickmott, and Olave   Arts for the Planet 
 
 

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Arts for the Planet 
 
Nick Kleese, Univeristy of Minnesota-Twin Cities, MN, USA 
Taylor Goetsch, Minnepolis College of Art and Design, MN, USA 
Olivia Gibson, Minnepolis College of Art and Design, MN, USA 
Breanna Hickmott, Minnepolis College of Art and Design, MN, USA 
Juliana Olave, Minnepolis College of Art and Design, MN, USA 
 
Artist Statement 

In 2022, the Center for Climate Literacy launched the first iteration of its Arts for the Planet 
Visual Media Contest. Young artists currently enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and 
Design were invited to submit visual media that explored some tenant of climate literacy: 
values, attitudes, and behavioral change necessary to safeguard the Earth’s integrity in the 
present and for future generations. Taylor, the contest’s overall winner, illustrated E is for 
Ecocentrism, which depicts in both text and image what it might mean to decenter our human 
selves in our greater “web of weaving.” Honorable mentions included Olivia, who 
reimagines classic film tropes for the Anthropocene in ZOOM OUT; Breanna, whose work 
They Will Fade is a call to consider how human activity threatens the Minnesota state bird, 
the loon; and Juliana, in RRR, reveals fast fashion’s impact on one of the planet’s most 
incredible biomes, the Atacama Desert.  
 
We invite educators in all contexts to consider how facilitating similar programs can inspire 
students to actualize their climate literacy through insightful, meaningful, and engaging art.   
 

Keywords 
visual art, student activism, ecocentrism, Anthropocene, loons, fast fashion 

 

https://www.climatelit.org/arts-for-the-planet-inspire-climate-literacy-visual-media-contest-2022/
https://www.climatelit.org/arts-for-the-planet-inspire-climate-literacy-visual-media-contest-2022/
https://www.climatelit.org/topic/visual-art/
https://www.climatelit.org/topic/activism/youth-climate-activism/
https://www.climatelit.org/topic/ecocentrism/
https://www.climatelit.org/topic/anthropocene/
https://www.climatelit.org/topic/loons/
https://www.climatelit.org/topic/fast-fashion/









	Arts for the Planet
	Artist Statement
	Keywords