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ABSTRACT
Art has the power to activate learning and emotion in unique ways—this is true of humans generally, and museum visitors specifically. Yet art galleries are often overlooked in the museum field as forums for dialogue and sites of learning about climate change. This article investigates the significance of artist-led projects and art museum exhibitions in engaging visitors with issues of climate change and greater planetary change through the lens of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Anthropocene exhibition featuring the work of Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier and the related Anthropocene Project by the same trio of artists.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
About the author
Shiralee Hudson Hill leads the creation of engaging museum experiences as an independent consultant. Expert in visitor behavior and learning in museums, she has been working in the museum field for over 20 years; prior to her stint as Lead Interpretive Planner at the AGO, she worked on cultural projects worldwide as a consultant with the museum planning firm Lord Cultural Resources and also held positions with the Ontario Science Centre and the National Museum of Ireland. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Honours English from Mount Allison University, and a master’s degree in Museum Studies from the University of Toronto. Please reach out via shiralee.hudson@gmail.com