Josh Nodiff ’19 graduated from Wes with a double major in environmental studies and American studies. He is the founder and executive director of the Climate Imaginarium, a consortium of climate organizations with a center for the arts on Governors Island in New York City.
For those who are unfamiliar with this project, what is the Climate Imaginarium?
The Climate Imaginarium (@climateimaginarium) is a new consortium of climate organizations with a center for the arts on Governors Island in New York City. The Imaginarium serves as a community center for climate and culture, with galleries and spaces for exhibitions, performances, film screenings, and events that respond to the climate crisis with solutions and visions for hope and justice. Programming is offered by a range of institutions, initiatives, and organizations, coming together under one roof to reimagine a just and regenerative future.
What are your primary goals for this project? What do you hope people will learn from the Climate Imaginarium?
Stories are indispensable tools in the climate solutions toolbox. At the conclusion of my graduate program at the Columbia Climate School, before launching the Climate Imaginarium, I spent a year researching and mapping the climate storytelling landscape. I discovered so many exciting and powerful climate storytelling projects-—climate fiction literary communities, filmmaking collectives, theater productions, and so much more-—and learned many of these projects lacked the resources and relationships needed to scale up and amplify their impact.
That’s why I developed a consortium model for the Climate Imaginarium-—to weave a network between many of the most influential climate arts and storytelling organizations across writing, film, theater, music, art, design, dance, and beyond. As a consortium, the Climate Imaginarium can sow seeds of synergy between science, storytelling, community engagement, and the arts. Together, we’re able to cultivate relationships and leverage our collective power to amplify the reach, visibility, and impact of climate artists and storytellers.
At the same time, I saw an opportunity for the arts to promote climate literacy and environmental education, while engaging new audiences to participate in climate action and explore their climate emotions together. Social isolation and despair can often impede climate action and movement-building. To remove these barriers, I wanted to create an accessible and inclusive space that could encourage social connection, camaraderie, and a sense of community. The Climate Imaginarium is a collaborative public space where creativity and culture can grow relationships, facilitate learning, and envision resilient futures through the collective imagination.
How do you believe the arts and storytelling can influence our understanding of climate change?
Artists and storytellers have a vital role to play in shifting our culture toward transformative ways of thinking about climate and community. Throughout history, storytelling and the arts—- visual art, music, literature, film, dance, and theater-—have influenced popular opinion, amplified social movements, predicted novel inventions, and raised public awareness of social issues. Research shows that people are far more likely to remember stories than lists of facts. Right now, less than 3 percent of stories portrayed on stage and screen acknowledge the climate crisis.
If we stretch our imaginations, even a little, we can tell stories across genres-—addressing our inextricable relationship to the natural world and uplifting the voices of those most impacted by the climate crisis. Stories can sow seeds for new systems that embrace hope and justice, advance renewable and clean energy, promote resilient ecosystems, and envision a regenerative future for all.
The arts can present a canvas for dreaming as big as we can. Dreaming of a better future gives us a blueprint to build the world we want to live in. Imagination is limitless, and a better future is possible if we dare to dream.
What features of the Climate Imaginarium are you especially excited about?
First, we’ve established a community center for climate artists, storytellers, scientists, and advocates to convene and collaborate. Our community center forges relationships between individuals, supports the cross-pollination of interdisciplinary knowledge, and offers activities for people to explore and process their climate emotions together. It is a third place-—a space outside of work and home-— for those who are climate-minded and seeking social connection.
Second, we’ve set up a series of galleries and spaces to engage the public through exhibitions, film screenings, and performances. Artwork is displayed on the first and second floors, with thematic exhibits rotating throughout the summer. A summer film series is in development, with concerts, theater, and dance performances planned throughout the season. Each exhibit, performance, and film screening responds to the climate crisis with creativity and culture.
Third, we’re planning to develop a laboratory to inform interdisciplinary education and research for translating climate stories into climate solutions. The laboratory will investigate climate emotions and how storytelling can catalyze climate action and innovation. It will engage in creative and scientific practices, from regenerative design to biomimicry to mindfulness-based techniques.
Fourth, we’re planning to open a production studio to incubate and develop climate stories across a range of narrative media-—film, theater, immersive media, and more. The studio will serve as a clearinghouse for stories authored by community members to reach new audiences beyond Governors Island for greater social impact.
How do you hope to see this project grow in the future?
The City of New York has prioritized investment into arts and climate programming on Governors Island. In addition to being a popular destination for arts and culture, Governors Island will be the site for the New York Climate Exchange, which will research, develop, and demonstrate equitable climate solutions for New York City that can be scaled globally. Alongside this effort, the Climate Imaginarium can leverage the arts to shift our culture toward transformative ways of thinking about climate and community. We’re planning to scale up and become an artistic and cultural epicenter for the climate justice movement, weaving together a network of the world’s most exciting climate arts and storytelling initiatives-—all under one roof.
Until then, visitors can join the Imaginarium on weekends to attend artist talks, poetry readings, book clubs, play readings, mindfulness meditations, film screenings, storytelling workshops, concerts, performances, and much more. The Climate Imaginarium is located in Building 406A on Colonels Row (406A Comfort Road on Governors Island in New York City) and is open to the public every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Hope to see you there!