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March 28, 2025
Resilience & Rebuilding: Learning from Other Cities
Resilience & Rebuilding is an open ended series of virtual programs exploring the impacts of the recent devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, offering a container for conversation and pathways for rebuilding that foreground ecology, community, and collective wellbeing.

The second program in the series presented case studies of rebuilding in the wake of other climate emergencies with the aim of incorporating lessons learned into LA’s recovery roadmap. We learned about mitigation, adaptation, and prevention measures as well as stories of rebuilding in the wake of three climate emergencies: the 2023 fires in Lahaina, Maui, HI; 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, CA; and 2005 Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, LA. Speakers included Tap Bui, Executive Director of the Song Community Development Corporation in New Orleans, LA; Nancy Convard, the Maui Wildfire Coordinator for the Hawaii Department of Health, Maui, HI; Steve Crowder, Mayor of Paradise, CA; and Diana Felton, Chief of the Hawaii Department of Health’s Communicable Disease and Public Health Nursing Division, Maui, HI. The program was moderated by Adam Mahoney.

February 28, 2025
Resilience & Rebuilding: Surveying Impacts
Resilience & Rebuilding is an open ended series of virtual programs exploring the impacts of the recent devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, offering a container for conversation and pathways for rebuilding that foreground ecology, community, and collective wellbeing.

The inaugural program presented a multifaceted view of the fires, highlighting personal, city, county, and state level testimonials to their impact and the immediate response. Speakers included Service Employees International Union, Local 721 President David Green; California Conservation Corps District Director Nikki Morales; Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator CEO Matt Petersen; Heal the Bay President and CEO Tracy Quinn; and Altadena City Council Member Kim Yu. The conversation was moderated by reporter Adam Mahoney.

October 20, 2024
A Climate Symposium: Landscapes on the Edge | Session 3: STRATEGIES with Edward Barbier, Peter Kalmus, Aradhna Tripati, and Justin Winters
This conversation was part of A Climate Symposium: Landscapes on the Edge, an afternoon exploring the contemporary landscape as it is changed by climate imbalance. The third session, STRATEGIES, outlined diverse strategies to mitigate the impact of environmental collapse and create a better future with presentations from Edward Barbier, Peter Kalmus, Aradhna Tripati, and Justin Winters.

The symposium addressed themes brought forward by the exhibition Josh Kline: Climate Change, curated by Rebecca Lowery, including the impacts of geography, capitalism, and chaotic weather on global and local communities. While Kline’s work is explicitly science-fiction, this program presents an opportunity to hear from experts working in the field and to engage with science and facts. The program was moderated by artist and MOCA Environmental Council co-founder Haley Mellin in conversation with artist Josh Kline.

October 20, 2024
A Climate Symposium: Landscapes on the Edge | Session 2: EFFECTS with Rong Fu, Alesia Montgomery, Mark Stoll, and Bharat Jayram Venkat
This conversation was part of A Climate Symposium: Landscapes on the Edge, an afternoon exploring the contemporary landscape as it is changed by climate imbalance. The second session of the symposium, EFFECTS, focused on the impacts of environmental degradation and climate change on landscape and culture with presentations from Rong Fu, Alesia Montgomery, Mark Stoll, and Bharat Jayram Venkat.

The symposium addressed themes brought forward by the exhibition Josh Kline: Climate Change, curated by Rebecca Lowery, including the impacts of geography, capitalism, and chaotic weather on global and local communities. While Kline’s work is explicitly science-fiction, this program presents an opportunity to hear from experts working in the field and to engage with science and facts. The program was moderated by artist and MOCA Environmental Council co-founder Haley Mellin in conversation with artist Josh Kline.

October 20, 2024
A Climate Symposium: Landscapes on the Edge | Session 1: CAUSES with Ram Ramanathan
This conversation was part of A Climate Symposium: Landscapes on the Edge, an afternoon exploring the contemporary landscape as it is changed by climate imbalance. The symposium began with a foundational talk by Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan, who discovered the greenhouse effect of chlorofluorocarbons in 1975 and made critical contributions to the discourse of Global Warming, garnering the Blue Planet Prize.

The symposium addressed themes brought forward by the exhibition Josh Kline: Climate Change, curated by Rebecca Lowery, including the impacts of geography, capitalism, and chaotic weather on global and local communities. While Kline’s work is explicitly science-fiction, this program presents an opportunity to hear from experts working in the field and to engage with science and facts. The program was moderated by artist and MOCA Environmental Council co-founder Haley Mellin in conversation with artist Josh Kline.

December 21, 2023
MOCA Climate Conversations: Catábasis
This conversation between artist Regina de Miguel and curator Mateo Chacón Pino followed a screening of Miguel's film Catábasis exploring extraction, environmental justice, and colonialism.

Relations with the Earth have been social relations of work and exploitation since the emerging industrial capitalism of the 19th century, just as they were in digital capitalism in the 21st century. Who owns the natural resources and who receives their profits? How do wage labor and exploitation shape our relations with the earth and our relations with each other? How does the acceleration of digital processes counteract the slowness of geological processes? The artist Regina de Miguel asks herself these questions based on the regions of Chocó in Colombia and Rio Tinto in Spain. Here the state, the local population and international corporations are fighting for underground gold, an essential element for the computer industry as well as an alien element, which is an object of evil associated with desire and violence over bodies and territories. Through various scenarios, different aspects of extractive coloniality, resistance and guerrilla strategies, Yuli Correa's feminist social activism in Colombia during the peace process, and a critical re-reading of Bogota's Gold Museum and its protocols of concealment are made visible, ending with an epilogue based on Michael Taussig's “My Cocaine Museum.”

November 18, 2023
MOCA Climate Conversations: CANARY
This conversation between filmmakers Danny O’Malley, Adam Paul Smith, and Alex Rivest followed a screening of the film CANARY. The film invites you to witness the extraordinary life of Dr. Lonnie Thompson, an explorer who went where no scientist had gone before and transformed our idea of what is possible. Daring to seek Earth’s history contained in glaciers atop the tallest mountains in the world, Lonnie found himself on the frontlines of climate change—his life’s work evolving into a salvage mission to recover these priceless historical records before they disappear forever. The conversation was moderated by MOCA’s Environmental & Sustainability Strategist Kelsey Shell.

December 3, 2023
MOCA Climate Conversations: Urban Ecologies
The MOCA Climate Conversations series seeks to create a space for collective learning and dialogue, providing a platform for engaging with pressing topics, fostering awareness, and inspiring action around the diverse facets of climate, culture, and environmental justice. This daylong symposium covered many facets of the polycrisis including urban oil extraction, colonialism, and the disproportionate climate impacts on communities of color. It also outlined new channels for collective action including urban planning, artist-led storytelling, acts of solidarity with native land protectors, and building a more diverse movement. Speakers included Carolina Caycedo, Adam Mahoney, T’Essence Minnitee, Daniela Lieja Quintanar, Alicia Rivera, Karen Seto, Nicole Steele, and Ki’Amber Thompson. It also featured a presentation from the MOCA Teens.

September 30, 2023
MOCA Climate Conversations: Fluid States
The MOCA Climate Conversations series seeks to create a space for collective learning and dialogue, providing a platform for engaging with pressing topics, fostering awareness, and inspiring action around the diverse facets of climate, culture, and environmental justice. This daylong symposium explored artist-led activism, food sovereignty, Navajo practices of kinship, water rights, sea level rise, and climate adaptation. The day began with an excerpt of composer Jacob Kirkegaard’s Isfaald, which captures the deep booms of calving icebergs and the high pitched crackling of melting ice. Speakers included Josh Bardfield, Dan Colen, Laura Copelin, Dr Kristina Hill, Adrianne Ramsey, Emma Robbins, Isabella Robbins, Li Schmidt, Dr Benjamin Strauss, and Sarah Workneh.

November 8, 2022
Pioneer Works: Perspectives on a Changing Earth
This panel brings together three individuals - an artist, an environmentalist, and a physicist - for a discussion on the global impact of human-made climate change, and the possibility of building a sustainable and equitable future through culture, activism, and education. Dustin Yellin is an artist who balances a sculptural practice visualizing the catastrophic impact of the anthropocene, with a social practice to build community through accessible, transdisciplinary education and engagement, as a catalyst to provoke societal change. David de Rothschild is an ecologist and activist whose global exploration and adventuring have brought widespread attention and innovative solutions to urgent environmental issues. Theoretical astrophysicist Janna Levin considers life and environments on exoplanets and how the climate crisis impacts not only our planet, but the universe around it. Together with moderator Adrianne Ramsey, an arts curator and writer, the panel will discuss why climate change is the most pressing issue of our time, how education and innovation can unlock solutions to political inertia, and how the actions we take today can forestall the direct impact of this looming crisis.

October 7, 2022 
Planning For Sustainable Exhibitions With Simone Paz, Associate Director of Sustainability, The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)

Integrating sustainability into exhibitions requires a thoughtful re-evaluation of exhibition systems and processes. Building climate considerations into the early design and planning stages is imperative, and team member partnerships and collaboration are one of the most important aspects of achieving this goal. In this session, Simone Paz, Associate Director of Sustainability at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), discusses how to make exhibitions more sustainable through applying alternative strategies to the design and planning process.

August 25, 2022
Approaches to Sustainability: A Conversation with Artists Engaging with Environmental Issues

As creative thinkers, artists are uniquely positioned to establish a framework for sustainable practices and reflection on the broader systems around us. This panel explores the work of various artists engaging with issues of sustainability through environmental and social justice, community activism, and climate-related content, representing a wide variety of approaches to the broad notion of “sustainability.” The breadth and diversity of their work can help us better understand the nuances of sustainability. Madeline Hollander explores group patterns and behaviors in response to environmental and social crises. Jonah Jacobs uses his art to discuss waste, proposing creative approaches to re-use or up-cycling. Patty Chang considers the intersection of art and science and the possibilities of collaboration to support ecological solutions and protection. Finally, activism is at the core of Andrea Bowers’ work; Bowers is involved in social, environmental, and political activist movements and is currently looking at greenwashing. With their vastly different practices, these four artists demonstrate a handful of the many paths to sustainability, both within the art industry and for all of us as global citizens. The panel is organized by Annabel Keenan, who reports on contemporary art and sustainability for various publications including The Art Newspaper. Keenan will moderate the conversation to shed light on these four artists’ approaches to sustainability.

June 8, 2022
Rewild: how humans help rebuild the fabric of nature

This panel discussion brings together artists, conservationists, and activists to discuss how the recovery of wildlife and ecosystems can support global objectives for biodiversity, climate, and people. It will explore the role of large mammals in triggering the recovery of ecosystems around the world, the impact of reforestation in urban areas, and the ways art can engage living ecosystems and invite viewers to participate in the protection of the natural world. Participants include Doug Aitken, Karl Burkart, Elise Van Middelem, and Carly Vynne. The panel is moderated by independent curator Temple Shipley. The 2022 series is made possible by Nora McNeely Hurley and Manitou Fund.

June 3, 2022
Strategic Climate Funds: Community Meeting Strategic Climate Funds With Haley Mellin

Learn how U.S.-based galleries and museums first calculated and identified key ways to reduce their carbon emissions, and how they compensate for carbon emissions they can't eliminate through Strategic Climate Funds. San Francisco-based artist Haley Mellin shares her process of supporting institutions and the art community in walking various paths in their calculations, public communications of their actions and their Strategic Climate Funds versus offset decisions. Mellin founded the nonprofit Art into Acres, which helps artists and institutions support the conservation of large-scale landscapes, preserving biodiversity and historic carbon stores in the process.

April 14, 2022
Pollution, Policy, and Art

This panel discussion brings together a range of artists and advocates to discuss the multithreaded hydra that is plastics pollution and how we can get our hands around it. Participants include Melissa Aguayo, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Reusable LA coalition and US Coordinator for Break Free From Plastic; installation artist and sculptor Liz Larner, whose deep, research-based practice explores problems such as the pervasive and exponential presence of plastic in the world; artist Hugo McCloud, whose mixed-media works addresses issues of class, labor, geopolitics, and the environmental impact of plastic; and Erica Montelongo, a local climate justice and youth advocate, artist, and community composter working to support communities that are the most impacted by pollution and climate change. The panel is organized and facilitated by activist and organizer Calla Rose Ostrander.

Jan 26, 2022
What Can We Do? Arts Organizations and Climate Sustainability

Artists have been on the front-lines of environmental and climate activism for decades. Could this be the moment when arts institutions pick up their cue? Join us to hear from longtime leaders in campaigns to build a sustainable art world and learn about Bay Area initiatives helping our arts organizations meet the challenges of the climate crisis. Art + Climate Action is a California-based collective uniting nonprofit art spaces, commercial endeavors, art workers, patrons, and artist studios in the fight for environmental justice. Art + Climate Action helps organizations (large and small) take account of their carbon output and provide strategic solutions for achieving zero-emissions practices.

December 4, 2021
PHI Sessions 2021: Emergent Commitments and Responsibilities of the Cultural Institution

PHI Sessions 2021 is a two-day gathering of a range of voices concerned with the arts and culture milieu on sustainability and other factors. This keynote address explores new opportunities for institutional agency and action in the face of emerging societal forces. The intent is to explore the role and potential of the cultural institution writ large (public galleries, museums, artist run centres, collectives, independent initiatives, etc.) within the climate of our rapidly evolving contemporary moment. Moderated by Kama La Mackerel with Calum Bowden, Haley Mellin, Monica O. Montgomery, Carmen Papalia

July 29, 2021
Is it the art world's responsibility to be eco-friendly?

In this panel, MOCA’s Environmental Council, Art into Acres, Frieze, OTOY and RNDR will discuss how the art world can engage sustainable practices at an institutional level with the Paris Agreement (50% carbon emissions reduction by 2030) and an adoption of zero-waste practices at the forefront. Speakers discuss intersectional artist practices, environmental justice, natural conservation and carbon emissions. This Financial Times LA Frieze talk, moderated by Financial Times’ editor, Jemima Kelly, will focus on the art world and its ecological impact.

February 25, 2021
Uncommon Commons: What Can Public Art Do for Environmental Activism?

The calls for environmental justice have reached a fever pitch in recent years and many artists, curators, and institutions are attempting to understand how their practices can buoy these efforts. This month’s Uncommon Commons will explore what role public art can take in calling attention to environmentalism, conservation, and environmental justice.

January 22, 2021
Art Expo: Dialogues | Practices of Conservation — Exhibition and Environmental Impact

In this panel, artists and co-founders of MOCA’s Environmental Council, Art into Acres, Art+Climate Action, Galleries Commit, and Art to Zero will discuss specific aims, such as reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement and adoption of zero-waste practices. How can the art world reduce emissions and engage more sustainable methods in an adaptive manner that supports engagement from across the art world? This panel is designed to connect the audience with considerations and resources for sustainable practices at a studio, exhibition, and institutional level.