Young people are being invited to design a mural to be painted beside the River Clyde to inspire action ahead of COP26.
The Grantham Climate Art Prize has opened and is looking for submissions on the theme of biodiversity loss. The competition is open to young people aged between 12 and 25 including secondary school pupils, further and higher education art students and talented young people from diverse communities who may not have the chance to engage with formal education.
All designs must feature at least one regional endangered species with the Glasgow mural to feature a basking shark, bluebell, common toad, pine martin, red squirrel, small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly, water vole, white-tailed eagle, or wildcat.
The winning Glasgow mural will be painted by artists Ciaran Globel and Conzo Throb and will be featured close to the River Clyde and will be featured in a public exhibition at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
Seven designs will be chosen for display across the country including in regional Real World Science network art galleries and museums, on social media, on advertising billboards.
The judging panel includes climate experts at the Grantham Institute, Octopus Energy, UK Youth for Nature, the UK’s leading youth-led network calling for urgent action to address loss of nature and wildlife, members of the Natural History Museum's Read World Science network, and regional mural artists.
Professor Martin Siegert, Co-Director of the Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London, says: "Art has the potential to inspire minds and touch emotions in a way that science alone often finds challenging.
"Public art offers us a way to engage broad audiences to appreciate the climate problem in multiple interesting and imaginative ways, often reflecting local as well as global issues and consequences. We hope the Grantham Climate Art Prize will help raise public awareness at this critical moment, and fuel political determination at COP26 in Glasgow this year."
Designs can be submitted from Wednesday 1 September to Friday 24 September 2021 via octopus.energy/grantham-art.
