Cassidy Lewis - 2021

Artist's Statement

“Travel Posters” they exist in every touristy gift shop at every state or national landmark and parks- I know, because I collect them. I have posters from Craters of the Moon, The Golden Spike National Monument, Shenandoah National Parks, and the various other places that I’ve traveled. I love them, and I love that each of them show off the beauty of the places they represent. For this final project I wanted to take that idea and turn it on its head, what if instead of the beauty, these posters represented a possible reality in the near future? I chose five states to make a poster for, and each of them comments on a different reality of climate change that are affecting us now, and in our own backyards. Utah, and many other places in the US are facing desertification and droughts; California and other western states face increased and higher intensity wildfires with longer wildfire seasons; Hawaii, and many other places throughout the world are facing the loss of their coral reefs due to ocean acidification; Florida is already dealing with extreme flooding as sea levels rise; and Texas as well as other parts of the world are beginning to deal with the extreme weather brought on by climate change. If we don’t do something now, these posters may not be far off from the travel posters available to us 50 years from now. We have to preserve and protect our earth for as long as we can- after all, we’ve only got one- not the 1.6 we’re consuming.