Turning the Tides conference features climate change-themed art installation

Members of the public are invited to view a climate change-themed art installation on Thursday, June 19, from 4 to 6 pm, in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall, UPEI.

The exhibit, which features local and regional artists, is part of the Turning the Tide: Island Imaginaries and Interdisciplinaries in Climate Change conference, taking place at UPEI from June 16 to 20, 2025. Co-hosted by UPEI, the University of Aruba, and Sophia University in Japan, the conference is focused on the relationship of small island states and subnational island jurisdictions to climate change. Eighty-two presenters and participants are coming from around the world to attend the conference.

The exhibit will include visual art, poetry, and ambient soundscapes by musical artist Heather Taves and live-painting mural creation by artist Julea Hope Boswell. Projections will showcase over 100 of Boswell’s paintings combined with island-themed poetry by local poet Len St-Aubin and Dr. Laurie Brinklow, assistant professor, coordinator of the Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) program, and chair of the Institute of Island Studies’ Executive Committee.

The evening will also include screenings of three short films by local filmmaker Mille Clarkes; a self-guided interactive exhibit examining equity, vulnerability, and resilience on PEI, co-led by public partners and researchers from the UPEI Centre for Health and Community Research; paintings by Dr. William Montelpare, Margaret and Wallace McCain Chair in Human Development and Health at UPEI; and works by other artists.

Admission is free. For more information, please contact the conference organizers at turningthetide2025@gmail.com or call 902-620-5013.