Design contest, on depicting risk from climate change
In the summer of 2009, Artist As Citizen teamed with Andrew Revkin at the New York Times to present a contest on describing the risk from climate change, open to creative students (in graphics, fine art, film, photography or new media programs); we would like to re-run the program this summer.
About You
Section 1: You
First Name
Richard
Last Name
Reiss
Website URL
Organization
Artist As Citizen
Country
United States
Section 2: Your Organization
Organization Name
Artist As Citizen
Organization Website
Organization Phone
917.969.9427
Organization Address
301 East 22 Street, 14K
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
United States
Your idea
Name Your Project
Design contest, on depicting risk from climate change
Country and state your work focuses on
United States, NY
Describe Your Idea
In the summer of 2009, Artist As Citizen teamed with Andrew Revkin at the New York Times to present a contest on describing the risk from climate change, open to creative students (in graphics, fine art, film, photography or new media programs); we would like to re-run the program this summer.
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
We’re the only group in New York that did this last year. Beyond that, the essential concept of Artist As Citizen is to bring the best visual talent into contact with real world issues, using first hand sources, and then let them explore communication solutions themselves. The double benefit is the resulting creative work, and the effect of giving responsibility to young, talented people who will go on to be communication leaders.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Our contest results in September, 2009, drew 24,448 page views to our gallery of finalists. Ten top creative students are featured in the results, and four finalists (from Parsons, SVA, Pratt and NYU Film) were picked by Ji Lee, creative director at Google, and voted on by 500 NY Times readers. Collectively, this brought the subject of climate change before more eyes in a fresh way. And for long lasting effect, the creatives all read scientific data from the original sources, from the IPCC report and from MIT. It's a way to make the subject less abstract, and more immediate: give the most talented people the responsibility for explaining it to their peer group.
Problem
"Although they have grown up during an era when global warming has emerged as a major issue, Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 are relatively apathetic about the threat, according to a new survey. And even when they do think about it, young Americans are just as divided as older Americans about whether global warming is real, according to results of the survey conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. "
http://www.e360.yale.edu/content/digest.msp?id=2303
This public belief is at odds with the science, and our project will help bridge the gap.
A reminder of the science, summarized here by MIT:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/roulette-0519.html
And the community-destroying implications, summarized in varying tones at these links:
http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/files/new_york_factsheet...
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/04/local/me-warming4
http://climateprogress.org/2009/03/22/an-introduction-to-global-warming-...
Actions
In each cohort of creative students, there are individuals of great energy and talent: we tap them to solve the communication problem described above.
We are building our connections with students and faculty at the best creative programs in New York, the US, and the world. We've already worked with students from Cooper Union, Pratt, Parsons, the School of Visual Arts, and NYU. (And outside of New York, with RISD, Yale, and Art Center.)
Our goal is to draw talent from within the community, to explain the risk to the community.
Results
Talent is the most available, powerful resource for closing the communication gap on climate and on other social issues. Our work will lead to both immediate effects -- in greater awareness -- and in long term effects, by changing the entire outlook of the gifted class, so that they are intimately familiar with the science behind climate first hand.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
The primary resource needed for success is simply funding. We would like to scale up our program, and if the financial resources are available, we would then need to expand our management base.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Lack of funding.
How many people will your project serve annually?
More than 10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$1000 - 4000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
In what country?
United States, NY
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
How long has this organization been operating?
1‐5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
No
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
On climate change information, we have links to the Earth Institute at Columbia, via the Center for Research on Environmental Decisionmaking (CRED). We were among the attendees of the first US-based TippingPoint conference, held at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Labs. We've also worked with 350.org (in Times Square on 10/24, and in Copenhagen, at COP15) which has given us more experience in methods of creative public communication. And we are working on a proposal which we would produce in partnership with CUNY's Institute for Sustainable Cities.
Apart from climate, we're working with Grameen America, providing design talent to re-brand their organization as they roll out an ambitious microfinance program in the U.S.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
Via fundraising, we would like to increase the number of stipends (and thus the number of entrants), and also the size of the grand prize. And we would like to create a budget for a PR campaign, which we did without last year. As for growing Artist As Citizen, it is easy to scale the project as funding becomes available. We have a highly efficient system, we have contacts at the best art programs in the country, and there is no shortage of willing participants.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
About a week before the invasion of Iraq, in March, 2003, I was walking down the street near the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan, and stopped to study an enormous bus shelter ad for Hummer right in front of the school.
I remember standing in front of SVA, thinking, how does a free market democracy communicate? What's the difference between being a citizen and being a consumer? And I realized I was in front of a building full of young, creative people, an untapped resource ready to explore these questions.
Imagemakers shape how society sees things. By reaching talented, creative people while they are still in school, and giving them the opportunity to investigate subjects of real importance to their lives, we can both change their awareness and add to the public dialogue.
Once they graduate, creative students take increasingly powerful roles in advertising and media; we aim to give them an early experience in critical thinking about larger issues.
As an example of the potential benefits of raising awareness via involvement with students:
1. The U.S. consumer economy is a world driver, influencing politics, health and the environment in every corner of the globe.
2. Consumer habits are set by trends among young people.
3. Young people are influenced by images.
4. Influence the imagemakers, and one is reaching the decision chain at its source.
Rather than telling students what to think, we rely on them to think independently, and give them the tools to do the work.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
I studied political science and philosophy in the Directed Studies program at Yale, then graduated with a degree in architecture.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Email from Changemakers
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
50 words or fewer
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Comments
Hi Richard,
I just finished reading your entry and watching your video and I was wondering if you've considered making outreach and curriculum development for schools part of the design competition? Maybe the winners can be encouraged to collaborate with educators so their great ideas don't stop with the competition.
This occurred to me after reading the entry for Reaching the World, Mapping the Mind (http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/73480). Maybe you and Heather Halstead can discuss.
All the best,
Alexis
Hi Alexis --
That is a great idea. We'd need to beef up our infrastructure a little bit to be able to follow up in that way (see: funding). Right now we work on a very slim time/cost structure per project.
The video came about because we had a happenstance connection to some Teach For America teachers at MS 322, and Matt Shapiro (NYU '11), took advantage of that to set his project up there. It's a bit stark, but that's how 6th graders are -- blunt and to the point.
In any case, if we had the resources to coordinate our university creative talent (many) with K-12 schools (many), we'd love to do that. It has come up before: the TFA connection was part of an early conversation about that.
Our first goal has been to get the depth of creative talent engaged and presented. As soon as we can spin off other benefits we'd be very excited to do so.
Thanks again for the idea and I will follow up with Heather.
best,
Richard
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