Climates of Health: The Weather Inside Us

Project Synopsis

This project explores the connections between human well-being and our changing environment through the lens of the One Health framework. This exhibition uses creative practice and cross-cultural dialogue to confront urgent issues of climate anxiety, health equity, and sustainability. Bringing together the work of 14 artists and five academic researchers and collaborators over a two-year period, this project asks how visual arts can inspire action and foster long-term interdisciplinary resilience in the face of pressing environmental change.

In September 2026, the research team held an exhibition at the Fine Arts Building gallery at the University of Alberta which included artworks by 14 artists. The artworks in this interdisciplinary exhibition ranged from video projections of arctic ice data, a live theatrical performance of a contemporary operatic score, fine art prints ranging across scale and medium, as well as ceramics, artists’ books, hand made paper kites, and other sculptural objects. In addition to the artworks, video interviews with the climate and health researchers from the University of Alberta were included in the gallery providing greater context on the project and it’s basis in climate and health research concerns.

Research Team

Principal Investigator:

• Sean Caulfield, Centennial Professor, Department of Art & Design, University of Alberta

International Collaborators:

• Ryuta Endo, Musashino Art University
• Hisaharu Motoda, Musashino Art University
• Yoonmi Nam, University of Kansas
• Hiroaki Oishi, Musashino Art University
• Toshiya Takahama, Musashino Art University
• Motohiro Tomii, Musashino Art University
• Koichi Yamamoto, University of Tennessee

Other Canadian Collaborators:

• Evan Davies, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta
• April Dean, Department of Art & Design, University of Alberta
• Yannick Desranleau, Department of Art & Design, University of Alberta
• Duane Froese, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta
• Jonathan Green, Independent Artist
• Anne Hicks, Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, University of Alberta
• Chloe Lum, Department of Art & Design, University of Alberta
• Aman Ullah, Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta