The week began with workshops and drop-in art making sessions with climate data scientist and artist Jill Pelto. Pelto grew up in Massachusetts and lived in Maine before moving to Richland, Washington, where she now paints and engages broad audiences with climate change graphs. “I thought it would be a good idea to include graphs that demonstrate negative trends (sea surface temperature rise in the Gulf of Maine) as well as positive trends (the increase in National Wildlife Refuge acreage in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire),” Pelto explained.

Children and families who attended Pelto’s workshop were invited to trace graphs onto watercolor paper and paint their own climate stories. As chatter began to buzz around the tables, it was beautiful to witness how art and science invited participants of all ages into new conversations.

Even the Atrium Café celebrated Earth Week by partnering with Rare’s food communication specialist to feature a delicious plant-based menu. One guest told me “the mushroom banh mi was the best sandwich of my life!” We also were fortunate to have local vegan bakery Jodi Bees Bakes there to share an educational display with samples of delicious vegan egg rolls and mac and cheese. Jodi Bee’s table also featured microgreens and a mushroom “petting zoo” sourced from The Beverly Farms.

Other April Happenings: PEM’s First Freecycle Swap Party!

Though April School Vacation Week is now behind us, the work of the Climate + Environment Initiative continues to gain momentum. Just last week, PEM staff members were invited to participate in PEM’s first Freecycle Swap Party on April 27. The global movement known as freecycling is another way to recycle and reduce your consumption. Sharing unwanted items for free helps keep useful stuff out of the landfill, while choosing a gently used item demands less manufacturing resources and carbon costs than purchasing something new. This event was one of the many efforts generated from the staff working group to encourage PEM employees to actively engage in sustainability while strengthening cross-departmental bonds.

Throughout the day, staff dropped off their old board games, books, dishes and other items and discovered new treasures. Many departments jumped in with both feet – the Education team sent some well-loved children’s books to new homes, and our Exhibition & Design colleagues shared a stash of partial cans of paint recognizable from the walls of previous museum exhibitions! Everything remaining at the end of the event was donated to a local thrift store.

Art & Nature Center Program Specialist Dillian McGathey had the bright idea to donate the remaining paint to the New Liberty School for an upcoming Jackson-Pollock-inspired art project. As we continue to organize future Freecycle events, we intend to expand our donations to include additional Salem and North Shore community organizations.

The success of these April programs and staff-led projects speaks to the culture we are fostering at PEM. We are excited to keep collaborating with passionate artists and scientists from our regional, national and global creative communities. Together, our actions can make a positive impact on our future.