2021-2022

Merrimack Valley

Winners

Elementary School

Alice’s Artist Statement: “In my work, I showed two globes, one of a stable polar vortex and the other of a disrupted one. I did this to show the difference in temperatures between the two globes and how the disrupted polar vortex has temperatures that are affecting certain areas of the earth. In my work I state what a polar vortex is, and how recently its jet stream has become wobbly from warm air pushing against it, causing it to create very different temperatures for some regions. While researching and making my poster, I learned about how polar vortexes are beginning to become more unstable from the hotter temperatures in the south, and how over the next couple years, they could change the temperatures in some places dramatically. I hope that when people look at my poster, they will understand what a polar vortex is, and how it may affect their region. In this piece, I was inspired by the idea to use paint to create temperatures on the two different globes. In my piece I compared the temperatures of a normal polar vortex to the temperatures on an unstable polar vortex. I don't use paint often, so the Cool Science art competition inspired me to work with new materials in a fun and interesting way."

Zoya’s Artist Statement: “Hi, my name is Zoya Pathan, I’m in fourth grade, live in Chelmsford, MA, and study at Byam Elementary, and here is my artist statement. The challenge question I chose this year is, “How Will Our Lives Change As Weather Becomes More Extreme?” I made a “now to the future” type of artwork. I’ve tried to illustrate how extreme changes in weather can bring inconvenience to people in the future. For instance, as a result of global warming, light showers might turn into severe floods causing destruction. In winter, instead of building a snowman, we may be digging a tunnel to our house, which is now under snow, because of severe snowfall. While surfing, it might become too dangerous to catch waves or even just enjoy the sea, because of frequent tsunamis. Similarly, during summers, our neighborhoods may become hot and dry as temperatures rise. What I’m trying to say with my artwork is because of climate change, the weather is becoming more and more severe, and if we don’t take proper measures, humanity may fail. I created my artwork the way I did because I wanted to show how life would look like in different seasons in the future. Through my artwork, I hope that people will learn what is happening to Mother Earth, and realize how we might be affecting it adversely. Thank you."

Middle School

Alice’s Artist Statement: “Think Green is a statement I used to convey as much emotion that I could on one sheet of paper. The most challenging aspect was by far how I could vocalize my message of wanting people to feel regret and fright for what is possibly to come, yet also get them to want to get off their feet and take a stand. Throughout my time creating the two realities, I began to wonder if the outside, fiery, climate-ridden world really is where we are heading as a society or if we can stay inside of the blissful, bright and happy world. I began to realize, if people don’t take the simple extra step of saving energy at home, not driving to school or eating more vegetables, there may be no stopping the issue.”

Naomi’s Artist Statement: “Everyone should know about climate change but mainly adults because they are the ones who pay least attention to it. Americans release 1.3 trillion grams of CO2 a year just from driving! CO2 is a greenhouse gas that is released from burning fossil fuels such as gas and oil. It causes temperatures to rise worldwide because it traps heat in the atmosphere. Currently, trees are our best bet in saving the world because they collect CO2 to help them grow. CO2 levels are at their highest from over 650,000 years! It is not only the atmosphere, but the oceans are warming as well. This causes more extreme weather around the world, fueling hurricanes, melting polar ice, and damaging established ecosystems. Scientists believe if we don't pay attention by the year 2100 the oceans will rise by 3 feet, and events such as the big freeze in Texas in 2019 will happen more frequently. By harnessing natural energy sources such as wind, waves, and solar, we can help power communities while minimizing the use of fossil fuels, and thus less CO2 is released. Extreme weather and climate change is fatal and causes serious damage to the world. If we don't stop it, it might end up that there will be no living species on Earth! To conclude, it is important to inform communities about climate change because it is causing extreme impacts on weather such as hurricanes, heat waves, and a weakening Polar Vortex.”

High School

Emma’s Artist Statement: “ In my artwork, I answered the third question which asks how our lives will change as the weather becomes severe. After doing research on the topic I found out that more severe weather can cause forest fires to become worse. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, there have been studies that have found that climate change has led to an increase in the length of the wildfire season, the frequency of wildfires, and the burned area. Through my artwork I showed how this can affect us, the entire forest is on fire, and houses seen at the bottom are burning to the ground. I hope that people will learn from my artwork that climate change is the main cause of the devastating forest fires and hopefully they will be encouraged to live more sustainably and tell others to do the same. In my artwork, I created a radial gradient by using multiple different colors instead of making a smooth gradient with the gradient tool. I also used a bold type with another gradient that was opposite of the background so it would stand out. I did these things to add interesting visual elements which will help to draw people’s attention.”

Owen’s Artist Statement: “ The question I chose for this assignment was question 1 which was what did you learn about extreme weather that you wished to teach adults. While this wasn’t exactly new information to me while doing further research on how climate change affects bees was shocking. What inspired me to take on the idea of bees rather than any information on fires or natural disasters is how important they are to nature. Bees are used as well in apiaries which produce honey that isn’t just used for food but can’t be used to soothe burns as well. I found that Bees themselves rely on multiple different weather specifications that affect their flying and their ability to communicate. I hope that the message, while a bit exaggerated in the art, is taken very seriously as it is a major concern with how bees themselves are becoming endangered and could be extinct in the next ten years if we are not careful with how we treat the climate. Naturally as well I should explain the message I put in the piece. The first part of the message of course references the extreme weather affecting the bees and how the actions of the person reading the poster won’t just put themselves in harm's way but also innocent creatures. The second part is a message that is supposed to make the message stay in your head. An easily remembered slogan or catchphrase will stay with people rather than just a fact so I believed that it would help get the point across that bees and many other pollinators are in danger of going extinct.”

Merrimack Valley

Runner-Ups

Elementary School

Elizabeth’s Artist Statement: “When someone asks, “Do you love the earth?” I think we would answer “Yes”. However, our actions do not match our response. As children we are limited in what we can do to help the earth. But adults can take bigger steps - like composting, recycling, walking, installing solar panels and on and on. Every time you turn on your car, carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted. Approximately 21 gigatons of CO2 is made a year. Too much CO2 is not good for the Earth. You can do your part to lower emissions by turning off lights when you are not home, turning your heat down in the winter and bundle up, and walking or biking to places. Find ways to help the Earth as a grown up or a child. Actions speak louder than words.”

Fiona’s Artist Statement: “There's a build up of emotions within me while talking about this subject, sitting with me all day pouring into my hands and flooding onto the long strip of paper. Showing how I felt by doing something I'm passionate about was relieving, but knowing that my artwork could be exposed on a popular transportation made me push myself to do my best. I care about climate change and against it; so, if this gets put up on a bus it would attract people, making them feel how I feel. I need people who care about this issue, and know how it's hurting animals and people, while feeling bad about it. My eyebrows still point down towards my nose illustrating the story behind why I'm mad. My eyes start brewing tears while seeing people hurt our own planet like this, and not doing anything about it. Empathetic people are the key to this problem. Empathetic people like me would understand what's going on and how to spread awareness. My piece of art is showing two eyes, in the reflection there's a green happy city with flowers, trees and windmills. In the reflection on the other side are factories, forest fires and trash, all representing climate change. If you look closely there is a tear and the eyebrow is curving up, showing that the person is worried, anxious, sad, or any other gloomy feelings, like how I feel. I made the eyes be my eyes, and I tried to show how I feel about the artwork, which is 'unique' and has more meaning behind it than the others.”

Karina’s Artist Statement: “We all seek a home, a satisfaction. The birds in the trees, the worms at our feet. Somewhere we can rest, forget. But flames will devour, even not by our cause. When I think of these animals and people I wish, and many others do, we could give them this shelter they seek. Running from the thing that comforts us most, leading onto the horridly gleaming sparks. Once we can all have this shelter, we can fix the shambles we've left behind.”

Middle School

Amelia’s Artist Statement: “My artwork answers the question: How will our lives change as weather becomes more severe? I addressed the challenge question as to how we can adapt to the severe weather, so our lives will change for the better. In my work, I am trying to say that we have already attempted to prevent climate change, global warming, and extreme weather, but it’s already happening. We now need to adapt to make life work for us. I created my artwork in a bigger area of people than just one house to show that it affects everyone. I specified five different and essential things we can and should do to adapt to the weather and prevent the bad effects of storms. The competition inspired me to combine two subjects I love, art and science, and many other different materials, into one project that makes a big important difference in the world. I hope people will learn that in order to save as any lives and places as we can, we need to adapt to the changes that climate change throws at us from our weather. I learned quite a lot, especially how everyone can help, even by making such small – yet crucial – difference. I was inspired not only by the question but by all of the opportunities to change ourselves, not the world, there are. Simply, How will our lives change as weather becomes more severe? We need to adapt.”

Vivian’s Artist Statement: “After learning about climate change, I responded to the challenge question, What did you learn about climate change that you want to teach adults?, by explaining global warming and the impact on extreme weather. Climate change is the overall shift in average temperatures over long periods of time on earth. Global warming is necessary. But it is happening at an unnatural rate because humans keep adding carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into the air. Proof of this is that the average global temperature has increased by 1.18 since 1880. This change in temperature affects extreme weather events such as hurricanes, bombogenesis, heat waves, and the Polar Vortex weakening. Hurricanes become stronger, bombogenesis happens more often, heatwaves also become stronger, and the Polar Vortex weakens more often as well. Those are only some of the things that happen due to climate change. One example of this: February 2021, Texas experienced temperatures as low as 6, freezing completely. This was due to the Polar Vortex Weakening, as the jet stream faltering caused it to dip. This happening is connected to climate change, as the arctic warming 2x faster is what causes the jet stream to falter. I hope that whoever looks at my work can understand climate change and its impact on extreme weather. In conclusion, climate change is something people need to understand more, as the impact, it has on the earth and extreme weather is massive and very important.”

Trinity’s Artist Statement: “Climate change is a big problem, and it turns out that everyone is contributing to the increase of climate change without even knowing it! This project addresses what I have learned about extreme weather and climate that I would like to teach adults, and that heat waves are more dangerous than we think. I showed this by drawing a scene of a modern city run by solar and wind energy, advertising the dangers of heat waves and encouraging people to help the earth. So what are heat waves? They occur when greenhouse gasses are emitted, which causes climate change, and that makes the heat get trapped. We have been having more heat waves recently because of our increasing usage of fossil fuels every day! Clearly, the whole process of creating a heat wave started with the emission of greenhouse gasses, which is mostly caused by us! The food and manufacturing industries produce tons of gasses like co2 every day, which really adds up fast! Daily human activities like eating a burger, or driving a car can really increase the emission of greenhouse gasses. One person changing his life to save the earth will make a small difference, but the real thing that will help the cause is spreading the word. That is why I drew the picture of the clean city. What I hope people learn from this is that heat waves are a huge problem for everybody, and even the little changes in your life can make a difference.”

High School

Josephine’s Artist Statement: “When addressing the issue, I tried to be as straightforward as possible with my delivery. My piece was drawn in adobe illustrator, and it uses simple and eye-catching colors to draw the eyes of viewers. I wanted adults to know that this has been the hottest decade in the past two billion years, a startling and thoroughly concerning statistic. The world on fire is symbolic of the extreme heat continuing to be trapped in our atmosphere. I hope that people will be encouraged to educate themselves about climate change facts; I was unaware of this fact myself before starting this project.”

Rebecca’s Artist Statement: “For this project I chose to answer the question "What did you learn about extreme weather and climate that you want to teach adults?". I want people to know that changes in the weather and climate can have an effect on many animals and I decided to focus on one animal that is affected by climate change and I picked the Moose.  I did some research and found that the increase in temperature will also cause an increase of parasites that are harmful and more moose will go through heat stress. In my drawing I made one side show a more preferred climate which is colder and then it changes into a less preferred climate which is warmer. With this drawing I wanted to show how this is one of many animals that can be affected by changes in the climate.”

Keith’s Artist Statement: “I addressed the challenge by drawing many sketches to determine my most effective design. With my artwork, I am trying to convey how the ice in the poles is melting due to global warming. I created my artwork in the way it is so that it will draw the attention of viewers allowing them to retain the information. I hope that people will think more about our changing climate after viewing my artwork and take steps to help change that. I learned more about climate change than I knew before the start of the project. I was inspired to do my artwork after watching a David Attenborough documentary in class.”