This article is written by Neil Nachbar.

Submissions will be on display at the Art League RI gallery from April 5-27; winning entries will be showcased at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography thereafter

KINGSTON, R.I. – About 300 Rhode Island students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade entered the third biennial “Ocean View” student art competition, organized by the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO).

All submissions will be displayed at the Art League RI gallery in Pawtucket, 80 Fountain Street, Suite 107A, from April 5-27. Three winners from each of the four age divisions will be announced at a ceremony at the gallery on Thursday, April 17 at 3 p.m. 

Students were required to submit a statement of no more than 100 words on the theme, “What does ‘The Ocean State’ mean to you?’” Their two-dimensional artwork was limited to 24 inches by 36 inches. Suggested art mediums included illustration, painting, mixed media and collage, and photography.

The judges were three professional artists: Janine Wong, Laurie Kaplowitz, and Ruth Clegg, who is also the president of the board of directors of Art League RI.

Wong takes a multidisciplinary approach when creating abstract prints, weaving together elements of art, craft, design, and architecture. Kaplowitz uses the human figure to explore nature and existence. Her art has been exhibited in galleries in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Miami, and San Francisco. Clegg’s art, which includes photography, video, printmaking, painting, and collage, has been displayed at the Providence Art Club, Bristol Museum of Art, Mystic Museum of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Care New England, and the Smithsonian Graphic Art Collection.

“Art League RI is pleased to host the ‘Ocean View’ art competition with the URI Graduate School of Oceanography,” said Clegg. “We’re happy to encourage children to recognize the value of the ocean through the process of creating these works of art.”

After April 27, the 12 award-winning pieces of art will be showcased at GSO’s Ocean Science & Exploration Center. The winners will be invited to GSO for a reception on a date to be determined, where they will be presented their awards. The art will be displayed for at least a year, where they may be viewed by the public, students, staff, and faculty.

By Selva Ozelli

It is fitting that after  2024 was confirmed as the hottest year on record, the United Nations (UN) declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, accompanied by the proclamation that March 21st of each year would be celebrated as World Day for Glaciers starting in 2025.

The hottest year on record, breaching the first year-long global warming threshold of  1.5°C, a key target set in the Paris Agreement, also witnessed the 150^ᵗʰ year anniversary of the birth of artist Nicholas Roerich, who is known as “The Master of the Himalayan Mountains.” The Himalayas ⎯ the focus of Nicholas Roerich’s artwork ⎯ have approximately 15,000 glaciers that are melting and could lose as much as 80% of their mass by the end of the century as the Earth’s temperature rises, according to projections. The Himalayan glaciers are a vital source of water for the region’s rivers and communities of 1.65 billion people.

As the planet gets hotter, scientists warn that this signifies a potential “frightening new phase” and increased risks of severe climate change impacts, with our glaciers shrinking, making the water cycle and the currents in the oceans slower and more unpredictable according to studies. Glaciers are crucial for regulating the global climate and providing about 70% of the world’s freshwater. However, for billions of people, meltwater flows are changing, causing floods, droughts, landslides and sea level rise, subjecting countless communities and ecosystems to the risk of devastation.

Four art shows by award winning artists Alfons Rodriguez, Photographer and Filmmaker (Spain), Fatma Kadir (Turkiye), Semine Hazar (Turkiye) Selva Ozelli (USA) at the UN draw attention to the need to protect glaciers, during the high-level inaugural World Day for Glaciers and World Water Day events taking place at the UN in New York and Paris on 20-21^ᵗʰ March 2025.

The Melting Age by Alfons Rodriguez & Fatma Kadir at The National Lighthouse Museum (NLHM), Staten Island, NY

The National Lighthouse Museum (NLHM), which educates visitors about the history and technology of the nation’s lighthouses, will host its first Climate change-themed art show titled ”The Melting Age” from March 15^ᵗʰ to June 1^st, 2025, to celebrate the year of glaciers.

The Melting Age art show  is made up of  a film, by Alfons Rodriguez and Jose Bautista (Spain); photographs from 7 continents and 30 countries by Alfons Rodriguez (Spain); as well as oil paintings by Fatma Kadir (Turkiye) that depict the impact of Climate Change on our world.

“From hot to cold. It all seems like a grotesque game we force ourselves to play. This is unprecedented lunacy. In Greenland and Antarctica, melting ice caused by warming makes the planet’s sea levels rise, while cooling ocean currents influence wildlife and ecosystems. An excess of salt water contrasts with the waste of scarce drinking water aquifers: we use four liters of water to make one plastic bottle containing the same liquid, and this is quite a moderate proportion compared to other products.  I thank the NLHM, Teiduma and Climate Heritage Network, and the UN for their support in bringing the Melting Age art show to the public during the glacier year. The Melting Age will be on exhibit at the tail end of the year during November and December at the Cunneen Hackett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, NY,” explained photographer and filmmaker Alfons Rodriguez.

Where Worlds Meet – Glaciers by Alfons Rodriguez and Fatma Kadir at the HMVC Gallery, NYC

On March 21^st, 2025  the Inaugural World Day for Glaciers, the HMVC Gallery in NYC will hold a 24 hour digital art show of their “Where Worlds Meet” exhibition which will include the mixed media Glaciers art work by photographer Alfons Rodriguez and artist Fatma Kadir at the jumbotron at Times Square, NYC  located at 7^ᵗʰ Avenue between 47ᵗʰ – 46^ᵗʰ Streets.

“I am so excited that out mixed media art work titled Glaciers with Alfons will be seen by so many New Yorkers in Times Square on the first World Day for Glaciers. I thank HMVC Gallery, the Climate Heritage Network, the UN for their support in launching the Where Worlds Meet art show on March 21^st. It is a truly historic day, a historic event” said artist Fatma Kadir.

The Lighthouse at the End of the World, by Semine Hazar for CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change in Hong Kong

Semine Hazar an award-winning oil artist of lighthouses explained “The inspiration behind my painting “The Lighthouse at the End of the World” was my trip to Argentina in 2017 when I firsthand witnessed the melting of the ice and with a great sound crash into the sea. This brought tears to my eyes. This lighthouse marks the last inhabitable point in South America. I imagined that soon we would be moving this lighthouse to the Antarctic. The Lighthouse at the End of the World painting is on exhibit at the world’s first climate change museum CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change in Hong Kong. Later this year I will exhibit my “Lighthouses of the Hudson River” series during the year of Glaciers at the Cunneen Hackett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, NY from July to August followed by the National Lighthouse Museum Staten Island, NY from September to December 2025. I thank all museums, the Climate Heritage Network, and the UN for their unwavering support to bring my work to the public.”

Orcas & Glaciers by Selva Ozelli for CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change

“I made the Orcas & Glaciers art show for the world’s first climate change museum the CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change in Hong Kong (MoCC) which launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29). I contacted Cecilia Lam the Director of MoCC and asked her if she would be interested in an art show about the trapped pods of around a dozen orca whales by drift ice in waters off Japan’s northern island which I read about in the news during February of 2024. I was so upset painting these trapped orcas in drift ice caused by melting glaciers. I thank MoCC, Climate Heritage Network, Global Resilience Partnership, Oceanic Global, and the UN for their unwavering support,” explained Selva Ozelli.

Please share your content to celebrate the inaugural World Day for Glaciers at the UN HERE!

By Selva Ozelli

The first Ocean Decade International Coastal Cities Conference will convene in Qingdao, China, for two days on February 26-27, 2025. The Conference is hosted by the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government in collaboration with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO) and will gather 150-200 key stakeholders from coastal cities and territories globally to facilitate knowledge exchange, showcase best practices, and foster collaboration and partnerships to address the challenges and opportunities in generating and using ocean science for sustainable development.  The Conference will mark a pivotal moment in accelerating action for the newly launched “Cities with the Ocean” Platform, which will be a major step towards the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference and the planned pre-conference special event on ‘Ocean Rise and Resilience.”

World-renowned photographer Ian Hutton, who is the curator of the Lord Howe Island Museum,  https://ianhutton.info and award-winning oil artist Selva Ozelli teamed up to bring a taste of  Lord Howe Island Group with their art show titled “Paradise” to this inaugural Conference.

Lord Howe Island Group (LHIG), an Australian island group in the Tasman Sea east of Port Macquarie, is one of the most beautiful islands in the Pacific and an iconic tourist destination.  The Lord Howe Island Group was inscribed on the World Heritage Register in 1982 under the United Nations’ World Heritage Convention in recognition of its superlative natural phenomena and its rich terrestrial and marine biodiversity as an outstanding example of an island ecosystem developed from submarine volcanic origin containing a unique biota of plants and animals, as well as the world’s most southerly true coral reef.  It is an area of spectacular and scenic landscapes encapsulated within a small land area. It provides important breeding grounds for colonies of fish, sea slugs, and seabirds, as well as a significant natural habitat for the conservation of threatened species. 

Last summer saw the highest global Sea Surface Temperatures on record, which included waters in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park (LHIMP).  When water temperatures are warmer than average, marine “heat stress” builds up over time, resulting in coral bleaching and sea slug and clown fish migration.  Global warming also impacts glaciers, which are melting faster than ever due to climate change.

Cecilia Lam, Chief Sustainability Officer, Director of Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change and Director of the  Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Office at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, explained, “Beneath Hong Kong’s towering skyline lies a hidden treasure—rolling mountains and a vibrant sea. Few realize that our waters host a coral diversity surpassing even the Caribbean. At the Marine Science Laboratory of CUHK, dedicated researchers work tirelessly to restore coral reefs damaged by urbanization and pollution, breathing life back into the ocean’s fragile beauty while pioneering innovative ways to enhance coral resilience in the face of a changing climate.

Paradise BY SELVA OZELLI with Paintings for Three Museums
On Exhibit at the Inaugural Ocean Decade International Coastal Cities Conference

Work from the Paradise art show will be shown at the HMVC Gallery in NYC for a month during March and at the Cunneen Hackett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, NY, for two months from March through April 2025.

Ian shows brings out the raw beauty of marine life, including in the LHIMP, sea slugs, fish, octopuses, birds and plants of the island with his photography for the Paradise art show published in over 12 books and field guides on Lord Howe Island.  Ian explains, “Living on Lord Howe Island is like living inside a David Attenborough documentary. From the beginning, I set out to emulate the great naturalist, exploring and documenting the Island’s diverse habitats, marine life, plants, birds, and weather patterns. As there is little I enjoy more than the chance to share my passion for the island and its environment with others,  I have led innumerable private tours, day walks, and multi-day trips, Weed Eco Tours, sharing my passions and knowledge of the island’s natural history with visitors to Lord Howe Island. I hope you enjoy a taste of Paradise captured in this art show.” See more of Ian Hutton’s work here.  

Selva Ozella, an award-winning artist, has been painting about the warming oceans, the bleaching reefs, and the ice-trapped orcas for various museums, including Lord Howe Island Museum, CSH Whaling Museum, Havre de Grace Maritime Museum, CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change (Mocci)  and others.  Her work for the Paradise art show and other art shows were influenced by the efforts of these institutions she collaborates with.  Because billions of ocean species are impacted by warming oceans, from dying reefs to melting glaciers to the meltwater flows, which are changing orca migration routes, causing floods, droughts, landslides and sea level rise, which devastate seaside communities and ecosystems.

Therefore, for the inaugural World Day for Glaciers that focuses on glacier preservation, Selva also prepared another art show titled “Orcas & Glaciers for MoCC”.  “Since 2013, the Museum of Climate Change (MoCC) has been a pioneer in raising public awareness about the climate crisis, inspiring and empowering citizens to take climate action and embrace a green lifestyle. We fully support the UN’s vision of the Decade of Ocean Science to make the future of the ocean healthy, resilient and sustainable for all,” explained Cecilia Lam, director of MoCC.

Selva is a member of the Climate Heritage Network and an ambassador to Oceanic Global.   Her artwork has been cataloged by the United Nations, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum and the Berlin University of Art as part of the project titled Climate Summit Art. Art and Political Event, 1972 – 2022.  Her three art shows, Reef Dwellers, Orcas & Reefs and Healing Waters, are endorsed by UNESCO OCEAN DECADE.