Young Artists Unveil Shocking Climate Change Murals: What They Discovered Will Haunt You!

High school student artwork is now on display at the Lunder Center, bringing a fresh perspective to the esteemed collection of the Clark Art Institute. The exhibition, titled How Shall We Live: Berkshire Youth Artists Explore Their Relationship with the Earth in the Time of Climate Change, showcases student art that directly responds to the pressing climate crisis. Debuting last Saturday, the exhibition will remain open until April 26, 2026.

This initiative stems from a collaborative effort between Uli Nagel, co-founder and director of programs at Cooler Communities, a nonprofit focused on integrating climate change education into K-12 curricula, and Anne Legêne, a member of Living the Change Berkshires, a volunteer organization dedicated to local climate action. This year marks the first collaboration between these organizations and the Clark.

According to Kristin Bengtson, Head of Gallery Education at the Clark, the project was initiated to foster a deeper engagement with local students. “We have [high school] students going outside, being on the [Clark] trails, and then coming inside to the galleries, but how can we make that more robust?” she remarked. “To really make it a high impact experience, it kind of has to come full circle. Students have [to have] the chance to make art too.”

With established connections to numerous art teachers in the Berkshire area, Nagel and Legêne were instrumental in realizing the vision set out by Bengtson and Dana Schildkraut, the Clark’s School Specialist. Together, they developed a year-long curriculum for participating high school students, which began with a professional development workshop for art educators in August 2025. This workshop included a guided art-making session using only natural materials found on the Clark’s grounds.

Art teachers then guided their students through prompts such as “What does nature provide?” and “In the age of climate change, what matters most?” An art teacher from Wahconah Regional High School, Bonnie Capogna, emphasized the importance of linking art projects to the theme of climate change: “We found that students were generally hitting the themes, because we’re doing something about our hopes for the earth.”

By February 2026, over 180 high school students submitted artwork for consideration, and a jury at the Clark ultimately selected 72 pieces to be featured in the exhibition. Schildkraut noted the challenges in the selection process, citing a desire for variety and originality: “We had also urged people not to use cliché images like the globe, because in the past, we got like 50 burning globes.”

The exhibition certainly reflects this diversity, showcasing an array of artistic mediums, including watercolor, oil pastels, collages, beadwork, ceramic tiles, mosaics, photography, acrylics, origami, and even a sculpture made from plastic waste. One standout piece, a large collage titled The Three Fishes by Stella Carnevale, a junior at Pittsfield High School, features three painted fish representing her close friends, all set against a background of mod-podged newspapers. Carnevale explained the process: “When we picked what we wanted to do, we read about climate change and how it relates [to the piece], and we had to say why we chose the subject matter.”

Another notable piece, Mira Desh, My Country by senior Krishiv Malhotra from Mount Greylock Regional School, integrates an air quality index map of India with photographs he took in Amritsar, Punjab, and news headlines highlighting the alarming decline in air quality there. Malhotra expressed his intent to raise awareness: “I think a lot of people in the U.S. are desensitized to the actual impacts of climate change. I wanted to bring those problems to the forefront in a place like the Clark.”

Capogna, who has been instrumental in supporting student submissions for the past three years, expressed her appreciation for the opportunity provided by the Clark: “I just think that getting our students' artwork out there is really important, and these opportunities for our students is what we need.” She added that while student artworks are often displayed in classrooms and hallways, showcasing them in a venue like the Clark is profoundly meaningful.

In an effort to broaden access, the exhibition will also move to Pittsfield’s City Hall from May 1 to June 8 before continuing to Sheffield’s Dewey Hall from June 12 to 21. This initiative not only highlights the creativity of local youth but also fosters a vital conversation about climate change—a pressing issue that requires attention and action from all sectors of society.