Meltdown: A Changing Climate presents artists who explore the beauty, mystery, and impact of human intervention and climate change on water in the Hudson Valley and to the glaciers beyond. Surrounded by water, both the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean are integral to life in Westchester County. Lower New York State has seen significant changes in seasonal weather patterns, shifting into unknown territory. Ice was once one of the largest industries in the area, with over 100 companies developing Ice Houses and employing over 20,000 workers. While seemingly a local issue, the melting of glaciers connects to all water systems, including those in Westchester County.  The artists in this exhibition observe, contemplate, grieve, react, and generate a visual response to the monumental importance and the enormity of a changing climate on the world’s water.

Water knows no borders. Its fluid liquidity moves in large bodies above the land and in minute tributaries of dirt beneath. Water flows from mountain into river into ocean, pouring life through the veins of every human, animal, insect, tree, rock – every organic and inorganic body on this fragile ecosystem we call earth. The waters around the world are warming, causing erratic and extreme weather patterns, including the disappearance of fresh water, significantly warmer and colder winters, droughts and floods, and intense storms. Water absorbs mountains of human refuse, dilutes tons of industrial chemicals, and on occasion, rears up and swallows cities when a storm moves in. The division of water into property owned by countries, municipalities, and individuals denies the fact that water will not comply. It will flow between, below, and beyond these human constructions, carrying its contents along with it. The assumed vastness of water on the planet challenges humanity’s ability to comprehend the impacts of a rapidly changing climate on the planet’s most essential resource.

Artists have always been catalysts for bringing awareness to the public of both the beauty and the concerns of the natural world. With the global consciousness of melting ice caps, this practice has shifted into reflection and activism. These artists respond to the water flowing around them, from the closest local waterways affecting daily life, to distant areas where vast glaciers are abundant yet rapidly shifting. They capture the fragile nature of our waterways, the monumentality of ancient glaciers, and the increasing sense of impermanence as the landscapes of water.