We Can't Dream Alone
Presented by the Climate Museum and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, We Can’t Dream Alone is an exhibit of four large-scale reproductions of paintings by Brooklyn-based artist Madjeen Isaac installed along the Garden’s perimeter on Washington Avenue. Combining experiences from her homeland of Haiti and her upbringing in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Isaac explores how collective care, memory, and ecological knowledge are crucial to building a more just future. Her lush urban environments invite us to consider how our relationships to place and to our community make us more resilient to personal adversities, social injustice, climate change, and other challenges.
Isaac’s work is on view outside of the 1000 Washington Avenue entrance of Brooklyn Botanic Garden from early September through late October. It is free and open to the public at all times.
About the Artist
Madjeen Isaac is a first generation Haitian-American artist whose practice is grounded in home, diaspora, belonging, and environmental impact. She holds a BFA in Fine Art from the Fashion Institute of Technology and an MA in Art, Education, and Community Practice from New York University. Her work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Smack Mellon, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, and the Frost Art Museum.
We Can’t Dream Alone is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
We Can’t Dream Alone is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Poetry for Our Planet
Enjoy poetry readings, take a moment to write and reflect, and join a discussion on climate.
Artistic expression has a profound, transformative capacity to connect people and open new horizons for collective action. Get ready for Climate Week NYC with celebrated poets Jane Hirshfield, Kimiko Hahn, and Brandon Kilbourne, who is featured in the AMNH’s exhibition Black in Natural History Museums. This after-hours program will unite poetry, climate arts, and community building.
During this event, you’ll hear readings from each of the poets, then have the opportunity to participate in a guided writing exercise facilitated by David Hassler, executive director of the Wick Poetry Center. No prior experience with poetry is required or expected, and all ages are welcome.
The evening will conclude with a panel conversation among the poets and Ana Porzecanski, director of the Center for Biodiversity & Conservation at the AMNH, moderated by Miranda Massie, director of the Climate Museum, about how science and nature played a role in the development of the poets' work and how science, nature, and art come together to inspire change.
This program is presented in collaboration with the Gottesman Research Library and Learning Center at the AMNH and the Wick Poetry Center’s Poets for Science initiative at Kent State University.
Register today to reserve your spot! Tickets are $15. If the cost presents a barrier to you, or if you would like to request accessibility accommodations, please contact info@climatemuseum.org.
Special Briefing on Clean Energy and Climate Voters in the Midterms with Exclusive New Polling Data
At this briefing, Environmental Voter Project (EVP) Founder and Executive Director Nathaniel Stinnett will present the organization’s exclusive new polling data from nationally respected Beacon Research on clean energy and climate opinion in battleground states as the midterms approach. The data will present a detailed portrait of voter opinions and mindsets on a host of issues, including energy affordability, data centers, permitting, climate change issue salience, clean energy vs. fossil energy, and more.
Stinnett’s presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with Arnab Pal, the Executive Director of Deploy Action, and Dr. Madalina Vlasceanu, Director of Stanford University’s Climate Cognition Lab, moderated by Climate Museum Director Miranda Massie.
In addition to discussing the EVP polling data, which is expected to be the only deep dive into battleground state climate opinion this political cycle, the three experts will discuss where climate messaging currently stands, the energy sector political dynamics at local, state, and federal levels, the climate movement’s communications challenges and opportunities, and recent research on climate-related communications in the policy and political arena, with plenty of time left open for Q&A.
This event is intended to provide a nonpartisan, evidence-based, and candid briefing for opinion leaders that will leave them with a deeper understanding of current public opinion on climate issues and nuanced ways to understand the opportunities and threats presented by modern American climate politics. To allow for a candid and open Q&A session, the discussion will be off the record and under Chatham House Rules.
Presented by
Speakers
RSVP REQUIRED
“This Is Not a Drill” Film Screening and Panel
Join the Climate Museum for a Climate Week screening of This is Not a Drill (2025) on Wednesday, September 23 at 6pm at the Angelika Film Center & Cafe. Created by Oscar-nominated filmmakers Oren Jacoby and Betsy West, the documentary film follows three grassroots leaders confronting Big Oil and environmental racism in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas.
The screening will be introduced by Dr. Roishetta Ozane, environmental justice leader, founder of The Vessel Project, and a protagonist of the film. It will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Rep. Justin J. Pearson, Memphis-based activist, member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, and a protagonist in the film; Eddie Bautista, executive director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance; and Miranda Kaiser, a fifth-generation Rockefeller working to hold Big Oil accountable, who is featured in the film. The panel will be moderated by Miranda Massie, founding director of the Climate Museum.
This event is supported by Beneficial State Bank, where the Climate Museum is proud to do its banking. Beneficial is a fossil-fuel-free community bank with majority nonprofit ownership.
Register below to reserve your spot! Tickets are $15. If the cost presents a barrier to you, or if you would like to request accessibility accommodations, please contact info@climatemuseum.org.
A Black Feminist Climate Arts Salon
Photos: Sari Goodfriend
On Friday, July 10 at 6:30pm, the Climate Museum presented “A Black Feminist Climate Arts Salon” at Gladys Books & Wine. For the climate-curious, the climate-knowledgeable, and everyone in between, this program centered creativity and Black feminist approaches for collective climate action. The event was free and open to the public.
The evening included a vital conversation on cultivating sustainable and generative relationships with the planet, featuring Breanna Byrd, Climate Museum Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Climate Humanities and Social Justice; Courtney Rohan, artist and somatic educator; and Whitney McGuire, founder of the McGuire Consulting Group, which works at the intersection of sustainability, design, and culture.
Together, we explored agency, creativity, and climate action, while remembering “that we are each other’s/harvest:/we are each other’s/business:/we are each other’s/ magnitude and bond.” (Gwendolyn Brooks)
The program began with a reception. Light refreshments were served.
SPEAKERS
Breanna Byrd (PhD) received their PhD in Feminist Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz. They are the 2025-2026 Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Climate Humanities and Social Justice at the Climate Museum in New York City. Her research charts the ecosocial relationships among Southern (U.S. and Global South) Black communities. Their work also engages questions around the “Anthropocene,” apocalypse, and sustainable futures. Looking to where narratives of world-ending/world-making take place, she thinks with Black geographies to center Black communities and their strategic practices of care. Dr. Byrd is a 2025-2026 North Carolina Climate Justice Collective Taproots Artist in Residence and was a 2025 Luminary Editorial Fellow with SISTORIES: An Interactive Black Feminist Literary Magazine. Their creative and scholarly work weaves together histories of land, belonging and futurity to tell a story beyond the inevitability of climate collapse.
Courtney Rohan is a facilitator, multidisciplinary artist, and spiritual creative whose work bridges wellness, community engagement, education, and artistic expression. With nearly two decades of experience spanning classrooms, studios, businesses, and homes, she has remained committed to helping individuals reconnect with their creativity, well-being, and capacity for healing.
As co-author of the poetry collection The World is Still Chaos, Courtney uses writing and storytelling as tools for reflection, restoration, and transformation. Her collaborative work with organizations across North Carolina—including QC Family Tree, Here for Good Business, and North Carolina Climate Justice Collective—has supported community wellness through creative programming, logistical leadership, and educational initiatives.
Through offerings such as her Trashy Art workshops, the Animals Remember oracle card deck, and Heal-Thy Expression classes, Courtney creates spaces that encourage self-discovery, creative confidence, and holistic healing. Her work is rooted in the belief that wellness and creative expression are accessible to everyone and that art can serve as a powerful pathway to personal and collective renewal.
Whitney McGuire, Esq. helps organizations and artists rethink their impact on people and the planet. A lawyer, strategist, educator, and systems designer working at the intersection of culture, climate, and equity, she brings more than a decade of experience transforming how communities and institutions imagine sustainability as a practice of care, justice, and cultural preservation.
As the Founder and Managing Partner of The McGuire Consulting Group, Whitney guides museums, foundations, and mission-driven organizations through change — building strategies that center community, equity, and environmental accountability. Her work has shaped initiatives with The Guggenheim, The Getty, Christie's, The Kitchen, and Custom Collaborative.
Trained as an attorney and informed by her experience as a cultural worker and professor at Parsons School of Design, Whitney bridges legal, ecological, and creative systems to help organizations move from intention to transformation.
This program was made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
World Oceans Day: A Musical Celebration
Film Direction: Micah Fink
The New York Climate Exchange, the Climate Museum, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) presented World Oceans Day: A Musical Celebration, an ocean-inspired concert and reception at the Arts Center at Governors Island for World Oceans Day on Monday, June 8, 5:45–7:45 PM.
Bringing together music, dance, and advocacy, this event featured musicians from the Metropolitan Opera and American Modern Opera Company, convened by Zoë Martin-Doike, performing works by Native Hawaiian composer Leilehua Lanzilotti, featured composer at the New York Philharmonic and Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Attendees also enjoyed performances by Te Ao Mana, a dance company bringing Polynesian culture to New York City, and had the option to dance a little themselves with instruction from the company. A panel discussion featuring Te Ao Mana co-founder Anthony Aiu and acclaimed visual artist Leslie Wayne rounded out the program. Wayne’s newest exhibition, The Unintended Blues, will premiere this summer as part of LMCC’s River to River Festival, connecting themes of water and climate change.
This evening along the waterfront explored our connection to the sea and lifted up meaningful ways to take collective action for our oceans, while celebrating the role of the arts and the contributions of Pacific Islanders to human culture.
The event was free and open to the public.
This program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Someday, all this at Photoville Festival
Photos: Sari Goodfriend
We were delighted to return for this year’s Photoville Festival in Brooklyn Bridge Park! This iconic annual festival included more than 90 public art exhibitions in all 5 boroughs of NYC, walking tours, panels, workshops, and in-person and virtual public programming throughout the month of May.
From Friday, May 22 through Monday, May 25, the Climate Museum presented David Opdyke’s remarkable postcard mural Someday, all this (2021), which was first exhibited at the Climate Museum’s first short-term exhibition in Soho. Someday, all this uses hundreds of early 20th-century postcards to offer a commentary on the impact of climate change on the American landscape. The work explores the migration forced by climate change and the unjust socioeconomic systems that got us here. The artist handpaints on the original postcards, which are a combination of black and white photography with color lithographic printing, to shift existing narratives. Literally turning Americana on its head, Opdyke challenges how we understand our past and calls us to action for brighter futures.
Each day for several hours, Climate Museum volunteers were there connecting with visitors and handing the newest iteration of our climate conversation wallet cards. These cards are designed to help us all engage in more climate dialogue and create ripples of civic engagement.
Someday, all this at Photoville Festival was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The Climate Museum Presents: Publication Day Celebration for Climate Wayfinding with Dr. Katharine Wilkinson
Photos: Sari Goodfriend
When maps come up short and the path ahead is uncertain, how do we find our way? In her new book Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home, best-selling, award-winning author Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson (co-editor of All We Can Save) offers a compassionate and empowering guide for navigating through ache to action, doubt to possibility. Whether we’re steeped in climate or newly curious, we can look inward with care, outward with curiosity, and forward with courage to shape our unique contributions.
The Climate Museum and The All We Can Save Project presented a dynamic book experience, immersing ourselves in the wisdom of Climate Wayfinding and the beauty of poetry, art, and song. Amid kindred community, we remember that each of us is a node of possibility for healing the climate crisis—whoever we are and whatever we’ve got to give.
The program included a conversation between Dr. Wilkinson and Climate Museum director Miranda Massie, as well as a reading by special guest and poet Tamiko Beyer.
About The All We Can Save Project
The All We Can Save Project is a nonprofit that nurtures people as the heart of climate healing. Rooted in its founding anthology, All We Can Save, the Project’s programs and resources serve thousands of climate doers, thinkers, and feelers. Dozens of university campuses across the US and Canada are home to its flagship program, Climate Wayfinding—now widely accessible as a book for anyone seeking clarity and courage for their climate journeys.
About the Climate Museum
The Climate Museum, the first museum in the US dedicated to climate change, mobilizes the power of arts and cultural programming to invite visitors into climate engagement and agency. The Museum’s exhibitions and programs help move people from feeling despair and isolation about this existential threat to feeling informed, connected, and empowered to act. The Museum will open the doors to its permanent home on Manhattan’s West Side in 2031.
This program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Broadway Celebrates Earth Day Concert
Photo: Sari Goodfriend
The Climate Museum was delighted to join The Broadway Green Alliance and Times Square Alliance for their 5th Annual Broadway Celebrates Earth Day Concert.
The event took place Saturday, April 25 from 11am-3pm in Time Square’s Duffy Square in front of the iconic red steps. The free public performance and festival offered performances by both Broadway talent and over 150 singers from local schools and community groups.
The Climate Museum was proud to present climate arts and action opportunities in the surrounding pedestrian plaza. Artist David Opdyke installed his major work of climate art, Someday, all this, which was exhibited for the first time at a Climate Museum show in Soho. Visitors watched—and helped—him place the 400 postcards that make up this epic postcard mural. The Museum also provided opportunities for taking climate action onsite and for committing to action alongside a community of others. Additional activities in the pedestrian plaza were presented by Headcount, Materials for the Arts, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
This program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
The Climate Museum x Pattie Gonia Presents: Climate Game Show Night
The Climate Museum presented a high-energy night where entertainment meets climate solutions and the audience was part of the action on Earth Day eve.
During the evening, Pattie Gonia hosted a live Climate Game Show Night featuring special guest contestants Emily Atkin, Kristy Drutman, Charlene Kaye, and Jacob Simon competing in fast-paced challenges that blended climate change, pop culture, and real-world solutions. It was part performance, part education, part community mixer, all pointed toward action.
Whether climate-curious or deeply engaged in sustainability work, all were welcome to join for the fun and stay for the connection. Attendees met fellow attendees, organizers, artists, and solution-builders, leaving with new connections, clear action steps, and renewed momentum.
About the Climate Museum
The Climate Museum, the first museum in the US dedicated to climate change, mobilizes the power of arts and cultural programming to invite visitors into climate engagement and agency. The Museum’s exhibitions and programs connect visitors to a culture for climate action with a focus on justice. The Museum will open the doors to its permanent home on Manhattan’s West Side in 2031.
About Pattie Gonia
Pattie Gonia is a critically acclaimed drag queen, environmentalist, and community organizer. Named a Next Gen Leader by TIME and recognized by National Geographic and Outside Magazine, Pattie’s community of more than 2.5M people has helped raise over $4M for grassroots climate causes.
This program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.