Seven Art Shows in New York Focus on the Need to Protect Glaciers & Forests
The United Nations has designated 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation to highlight the importance of glaciers.
After 2024 was confirmed as the hottest year on record the United Nations (UN) declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation accompanied by the proclamation that March 21st of each year would be celebrated as the World Day for Glaciers starting in 2025 side by side with the UN International Day of Forests, a day dedicated to raising awareness and celebrating the importance of forests and trees, encouraging activities like tree planting campaigns.1
The hottest year on record breaching the first year-long global warming threshold of 1.5°C, a key target set in the Paris Agreement, also coincided with the 150th year anniversary of the birth of Russian artist Nicholas Roerich who was a crusader for peace and protection of culture was instrumental in creating the Roerich Pact, a treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments, which was signed by several nations in the Americas, including the United States. Nicholas Roerich was known as “The Master of the Himalayan Mountains” which is rich with glaciers and forests. His work is recognized by the Indian government as one of its "Navratna," or nine artist treasures, a distinction that is unprecedented for a non-Indian artist.
1.The Nicholas Roerich Museum, NYC
To celebrate both Worlds Glacier and Forest Days on March 21st you can visit the Nicholas Roerich Museum to see 150 of the artists Himalayan paintings located at 319 West 107th Street, New York, NY 10025.2
2.“Where Worlds Meet” art show by HMVC Gallery
Another art show celebrating both Worlds Glaciers and Forests Days on March 21st is the “Where Worlds Meet” art show by HMVC Gallery which will hold a 24 hour art show at the jumbotron located at Times Square, NYC located at 7TH Avenue between 47TH – 46TH Streets.
“I am so excited that out mixed media art work titled Glaciers with Alfons which is a UN Glaciers Day event will be seen by so many New Yorkers in Times Square on the first World Day for Glaciers which for the first time is celebrated alongside the International Day for Forests. I thank HMVC Gallery, the Climate Heritage Network, the UN for their support in launching the Where Worlds Meet art show on March 21st in the heart of New York City open to the public. It is a truly historic day, a historic event” said artist Fatma Kadir.
Inaugural World Day for Glaciers Art Shows
The Himalayas -- the focus of Nicholas Roerich’s art work -- have approximately 15,000 glaciers that are melting and could lose as much as 80% of their mass by the end of the century as the Earth's temperature rises, according to projections.3 The Himalayan glaciers are a vital source of water for the region's rivers and communities of 1.65 billion people.4
As the planet gets hotter, scientists warn that this signifies a potential "frightening new phase" and increased risks of severe climate change impacts, with our glaciers shrinking, making the water cycle, the currents in the oceans slower and more unpredictable according to studies.5 Glaciers are crucial for regulating the global climate and providing about 70% of the world's freshwater. However, for billions of people, meltwater flows are changing, causing floods, droughts, landslides and sea level rise subjecting countless communities and ecosystems to the risk of devastation.
Several art shows by award winning artists Alfons Rodriguez, Photographer and Filmmaker (Spain), Fatma Kadir (Turkiye), Semine Hazar (Turkiye) Selva Ozelli (USA), Jim Richards Photographer and Filmmaker (USA) at the UN, museums, art center and gallery draw attention to the need to protect glaciers, during the high-level inaugural World Day for Glaciers and World Water Day events taking place at the UN in New York and Paris on 20-21 March 2025.
3.The Melting Age by Alfons Rodriguez & Fatma Kadir at The National Lighthouse Museum (NLHM), Staten Island, NY
The National Lighthouse Museum (NLHM) which educates visitors about the history and technology of the nation’s lighthouses will host its first Climate Change themed art show titled ”The Melting Age” from March 15 to June 1, 2025 to celebrate the year of glaciers.
The Melting Age art show is made up of a film, by Alfons Rodriguez and Jose Bautista (Spain); photographs from 7 continents and 30 countries by Alfons Rodriguez (Spain); as well as oil paintings by Fatma Kadir (Turkiye) that depict the impact of Climate Change on our world.
“From hot to cold. It all seems like a grotesque game we force ourselves to play. This unprecedented lunacy. In Greenland and Antarctica, melting ice caused by warming is making the planet’s sea levels rise, while cooling ocean currents that in turn influence wildlife and ecosystems. An excess of salt water contrasts with the waste of scarce drinking water aquifers: we use four liters of water to make one plastic bottle containing the same liquid, and this is quite a moderate proportion compared to other products. I thank The NLHM, Teiduma and Climate Heritage Network, the UN for their support in bringing the Melting Age art show to the public during the glacier year. The Melting Age will be on exhibit at the tail end of the Glacier year during November and December at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie, NY” explained photographer and filmmaker Alfons Rodriguez.6
4. The Lighthouse at the End of the World, by Semine Hazar for CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change in Hong Kong
Semine Hazar an award winning oil artist of lighthouses explained “The inspiration behind my painting "The Lighthouse at the End of the World" was my trip to Argentina in 2017 when I firsthand witnessed the melting of the ice and with a great sound crash into the sea. This brought tears to my eyes. This lighthouse marks the last inhabitable point in South America. I imagined that soon we would be moving this light house to the Antarctic. The Lighthouse at the End of the World painting is on exhibit at the world’s first climate change museum CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change in Hong Kong. Later this year I will exhibit my "Lighthouses of the Hudson River" series during the year of Glaciers at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie, NY from July to August followed by the National Lighthouse Museum Staten Island, NY from September to December 2025. I thank all museums, the Climate Heritage Network, the UN for their unwavering support to bring my work to the public.” https://www.un-glaciers.org/en/partners-content/lighthouse-end-world-semine-hazar
5. Orcas & Glaciers by Selva Ozelli for CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change
“I made the Orcas & Glaciers art show for world’s first climate change museum the CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change in Hong Kong (MoCC) which launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku Azerbaijan (COP29). I contacted Cecilia Lam the Director of MoCC and asked her if she would be interested in an art show about the trapped pods of around a dozen orca whales by drift ice in waters off Japan's northern island which I read about in the news during February of 2024. I was so upset painting these trapped orcas in drift ice caused by melting glaciers. I thank MoCC, Climate Heritage Network, Global Resilience Partnership, Oceanic Global, the UN for their unwavering support” explained Selva Ozelli. https://www.un-glaciers.org/en/partners-content/orcas-glaciers-selva-ozelli
6.Glaciers & Oaks by photographers and filmmakers Alfons Rodriguez and Jim Richards for Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center November – December 2025
Award winning photographers and filmmakers Alfons Rodriguez, (Spain) and Jim Richards (USA) bring their Glaciers & Oaks art show to the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center. Their exhibition combines images from Alfons’ The Melting Age series of photography and film documenting the impact of climate change on 7 continents, 30 countries and Jim’s The New Orleans Oak Tree series to celebrate the impact of climate change, melting glaciers on forests that lie below the sea level. https://www.un-glaciers.org/en/partners-content/glaciers-oaks-alfons-rodriguez-and-jim-richards-cunneen-hackett-art-center
Jim Richards the photographer of the New Orleans Oak series explained “The Anseman and McDonogh Oak Trees, currently residing in City Park in New Orleans, are among the oldest and most beautiful trees in the country. I discovered them in 2011 on my way to Jazz Fest and became considerably focused on their majesty and brilliance. I had just converted my camera to see infrared light, a spectrum invisible to the human eye. This modification offered me the opportunity to see things in a unique way. Considering this, I thought about the fact that parts of New Orleans sit as much as 10’ below sea level, putting these magnificent individuals at considerable risk to rising ocean levels. I made many images of these wonderful trees, considering that I might not see them again. I hope that people will think about this and do what they can to help mitigate climate change and the resulting sea level rise to help preserve these trees so that more than these images survive.”
Please share your content to celebrate the inaugural World Day for Glaciers at the UN
7.Paradise by photographer Ian Hutton and artist Selva Ozelli at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie, NY March 7- April 25, 2025
World renown photographer Ian Hutton, who is the curator of the Lord Howe Island Museum, and award-winning oil artist Selva Ozelli from the Hudson Valley teamed up to bring a taste of Lord Howe Island Group to the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center with their art show titled “Paradise” which is an International Day for Forests event for the FAO of the UN. https://www.fao.org/international-day-of-forests-2025/events/en.
“The cloud forest at the tip of Lord Howe Island's highest peak is an otherworldly place alive with animals, birds, plants and flowers not found elsewhere on Earth. Mist hangs in the air, embracing the giant mosses and clusters of tree orchids that adorn the summit of the majestic Mount Gower on Lord Howe Island. Ascending into this rare island cloud forest is like stepping into a fairytale — a hushed and secret world, carpeted in a tapestry of rich greens, rare palms, and twisted trees veiled in lichens. The secret cloud forests of Lord Howe Island are an enchanting reward for those who have made the rugged and arduous climb to the island's highest peak. I thank Climate Heritage Network and Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center for hosting Paradise where the public can see snippets of the cloud forests of Lord Howe Island” explained photographer Ian Hutton. And it's taken radical action to save it see more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-2..
Please email your events for International Day for Forests to [email protected]
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