Gallery Drop-in Talk: Climate Science, Climate Fiction

Join experts in the fields of science and art at this informal drop-in program, for a conversation on the climate past, present, and future as seen through painting, music, and literature. Moderated by "Storm Cloud" exhibition co-curator, Karla Nielsen.
Lectures

Inspired by The Huntington's PST ART exhibition "Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis", join Dr. Michael Méndez, Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning and Policy at the University of California, Irvine, and Rasheedah Phillips, artist, writer, and Director of Housing for Policy Link, for a conversation on the climate past, present, and future as seen through painting, music, and literature. Hosted in the gallery, this informal conversation will reflect on works on view in Storm Cloud and beyond, and be moderated by the Huntington's Karla Nielsen, Senior Curator of Literary Collections.

Items on a museum gallery wall and in display cases.

“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

Dark clouds partially obscure golden sunlight, with a mountain and river in the distance.

Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900), Vale of St. Thomas, Jamaica, 1867, oil on canvas, 48 3/8 x 84 5/8 in. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut. The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Collection. | Image courtesy of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

 A painting of wispy clouds in white, blue, brown, and gray.

Arthur Severn (British, 1842–1931) after John Ruskin (British, 1819–1900), Cloud Study: Ice Clouds over Coniston, 1884, bodycolor on buff paper, 5 x 6 3/4 in. | © The Ruskin, Lancaster University.

An engraving of an open plain with wisps of clouds above.

Thomas Forster (British, 1789–1860), Researches about Atmospheric Phaenomena, 1815, colored engraving in printed book, 9 1/16 x 5 3/4 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

A person looks up at a large painting hung on a museum gallery wall.

“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

A painting of buildings high up on a distant mountain cliff.

Thomas Cole (American, 1801–1848), Portage Falls on the Genesee, ca. 1839, oil on canvas, 84 1/4 x 61 1/4 in. Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

A color sketch of lavender flower with bugs at its base.

Mary Parker Macclesfield (British, ca. 1761–1823), botanical sketchbook, 1756–67, watercolor on parchment, 9 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

A person on a horse looks in the distance at an iron works surrounded by mountains.

Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg (French‐British, 1740–1812), Iron Works of Coalbrook Dale in The Romantic and Picturesque Scenery of England and Wales, 1805, aquatint in printed book, 15 3/4 x 11 3/8 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

A painting of a river with large trees and a bridge, people work near boats in the foreground.

John Constable (British, 1776–1837), View on the Stour near Dedham, 1822, oil on canvas, 51 x 74 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

Two people look at objects in museum gallery display cases.

“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

A black-and-white photograph of a mountain range with a waterfall in the middle.

Carleton Watkins (American, 1829–1916), Yosemite Falls “front view” (plate 30) in Yo-semite Valley/Photographic Views of the Falls and Valley of Yo‐semite in Mariposa County, California, 1861, albumen print, 19 3/4 x 25 5/8 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

A lithograph of people in various dress attire from the 1840s.

Francis Michelin (American, 1809 or 1810–1878), Scott’s European Fashions, for the Summer 1848. No. 146 Broadway, New York, 1848, lithograph with hand coloring, 18 3/4 x 23 3/8 in. Jay T. Last Collection.  | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

A large plume of black smoke rises in the distance while a person seems to stand nearby.

Unknown, Oil Well Fire, ca. 1920s, photograph, 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in.  | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

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Sept. 14, 2024–Jan. 6, 2025 | “Storm Cloud” analyzes the impact of industrialization and a globalized economy on everyday life from 1780 to 1930, as charted by scientists, artists, and writers, and contextualizes the current climate crisis within this historical framework.

The exhibition “Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis” has been made possible with support from Getty through its PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative.

Red sun dial logo with text reading PST Art

Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART, returned in September 2024 with more than 70 exhibitions from museums and other institutions across the region, all exploring the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information, visit PST ART: Art & Science Collide