Founded in 2020 by a group of Bay Area arts professionals, Art + Climate Action (A+CA) grew from a shared commitment to help artists and arts organizations achieve greater sustainability and climate awareness. Past and present organizing members include: Chris Bell, Devon Bella, Pete Belkin, Lisa Blatt, Tiffany Bozic, Linda Gass, Chris Kerr, Cait Malloy, Haley Mellin, Micki Meng, Sammy Owen, Lauren de la Parra, Daphne Palmer, Jodi Roberts, Claudia Schmuckli, Kelsey Shell, Danielle Siembieda, and Svea Lin Soll.
Together, A+CA reached meaningful milestones: co-founding Partners for Arts Climate Targets, providing educational programs and publishing guides on lowering greenhouse gas emissions, facilitating free carbon calculation reports, and customizing climate action plans for San Francisco Bay Area galleries and museums. Through these efforts, A+CA raised awareness of solutions emerging within the arts and built a network of climate-conscious arts practitioners equipped with practical and effective resources.
Today, Art + Climate Action continues under the direction of co-founder Devon Bella. Building on our history of resource development, we have shifted our focus toward strengthening regional resilience. We partner with artists, cultural organizations, and civic agencies across the Bay Area to center art and culture within climate planning.
Our work is driven by the conviction that infrastructure often omits the lived experience of a place—the histories, identities, and collective memories that root a community. While physical and technical changes might offer protection, they cannot generate the belonging or shared agency required to navigate a changing climate. We center art and culture because they provide the social tools and connectivity that allow a community to remain rooted in its own story while adapting to a new reality.