Blanton Museum of Art Presents "If the Sky Were Orange: Art in the Time of Climate Change"

Visit the Blanton Museum's special exhibition: "If the Sky Were Orange: Art in the Time of Climate Change" guest curated by Jeff Goodell on display until February 11, 2024. The Blanton Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and is closed on Sundays. 

This special two-part exhibition explores the history and contemporary urgency of climate-related issues. Guest curated by journalist Jeff Goodell, who has written extensively on the topic, If the Sky Were Orange is the first exhibition at the Blanton to explore one topic across several of the museum’s temporary gallery spaces.

The exhibition’s title, If the Sky Were Orange, is inspired by a large painting in the Blanton’s collection by Aaron Morse, Cloud World (#3) (2014), which features jarring, hot-orange clouds floating above a massive seascape. Goodell sees the painting as a striking visual metaphor for the greenhouse gases causing rising temperatures on our planet: Were those gases a visible color, he suggests, we would be far more aware of their presence in our atmosphere and thus their consequences for the Earth. A hotter planet and the related rise in sea levels are the two best-known issues around climate change, but the exhibition explores the complex interrelatedness of climate disruption and human knowledge and culture, including such benefits as the advancement of scientific research and related solutions like renewable energy and human and environmental adaptability.