Samaa Abdurraqib Sophie Davis Darren Ranco David Reidmiller Chandra Robinson
2023 Award Winners 2023 Finalists 2022 Awards
 
 

Inspire Change Through Art.

A Prize For Young Artists Who Want To Solve Our Climate Crisis

 
 
 

Presenting The 2024 Tidal Shift Award Winners!

Division I, Ages 14-18

Featured
Kavya Bhat's "Up Close"
Kavya Bhat's "Up Close"

Kavya Bhat (Queens, New York) was originally inspired by 2023 winner Ellen Chen (Rye, New York) and created Up Close, a diptych of two interconnected, yet opposite, climate futures. “Both long for something the other has,” Bhat states, “and yet both are suffering.”

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Ruby Hutcheson's "Mother Nature"
Ruby Hutcheson's "Mother Nature"

Ruby Hutcheson (Tallahassee, Florida) began Mother Nature with a handmade bodysuit constructed from trash and detritus that she collected from the roadside on my walks home from school. The resulting visceral photographs convey “the emotions of sadness and disgust that I think we should feel about the way we have treated our planet.”

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Isabella Campos' "Changing Corals"
Isabella Campos' "Changing Corals"

Isabella Campos (Winter Springs, Florida) depicts coral reefs transitioning from vibrant and healthy to bleached and dying in Changing Corals, a large sculpture meticulously created solely through manipulating paper.

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Division II, Ages 19-22

Featured
Grace Sanford's "The Life Of Water"
Grace Sanford's "The Life Of Water"

Grace Sanford (Freeport, Maine) explores the intrinsic connection between humans and local water in The Life Of Water. “Many communities are finding themselves suddenly without safe water which they once took for granted, and many lives have been lost due to lack of access to this fundamental need,” states Sanford. “Life as we understand it cannot be separated from water. All life is aquatic, and our form is defined by our water.”

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Sergio Cadena Gonzalez's "Afuera"
Sergio Cadena Gonzalez's "Afuera"

Sergio Cadena Gonzalez (Brooklyn, New York) is originally from Monterrey, Mexico, a city recently cited as the most polluted in the world according to the Air Quality Index. Afuera is an original composition that “reflects my journey across diverse landscapes, addressing the pressing issue of climate change and its impact on local and global communities.”

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Julia Daser's "Flooded House"
Julia Daser's "Flooded House"

Julie Daser (Manhattan, New York) is deeply interested transforming data from cold and clinical to emotionally resonate and moving. Flooded House is an interactive installation exploring the impact of personal accountability in creating sustainable actions. “Through my project,” Daser explains, “I underscore the lack of responsibility among high-income countries in addressing climate change.”

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About The Tidal Shift Award

The search is on for emerging young artists who are exploring innovative ideas around sustainability through their work.

The Tidal Shift Award aims to leverage the power of socially-aware artworks, awarding and platforming teenagers and young adults who are focused on solutions for climate change.

Are you an artist between the ages 14-22 who wants to inspire climate action? Does your perspective shine a light on our climate crisis in new ways?

We are currently accepting submissions of artworks that relate to the climate crisis through theme, subject matter, solutions, and more. Together, we can showcase the artworks that can influence, motivate, and galvanize our communities to do more to address our environment.

The Tidal Shift Award is open to all young artists the east of the Mississippi River (Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and all Native and Indigenous nations therein) between the ages of 14 and 22, to create a work of art contemplating an issue and/or a solution to a crisis facing your community resulting from climate change. Participants can use any medium (e.g. painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, video, all works of paper) and young artists of any ethnic or racial identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability are encouraged to apply.

Cash prizes will be awarded in two divisions (three (3) prizes awarded per division):

  • Division 1: Ages 14-18, $2,500

  • Division 2: Ages 19-22, $5,000

 

The Tidal Shift Award is a juried competition comprised of leaders in the field of science, advocacy, academia, and the arts, who believe we need new ways to address a crisis that is otherwise too easily ignored.

 
 

Samaa Abdurraqib

Samaa Abdurraqib, PhD (she/her/hers) is the Associate Director at the Maine Humanities Council, and is a leader for Outdoor Afro, a national organization committed to (re)connecting Black people to the outdoors and connecting Black people to each other through the outdoors.

Sophie Davis

Sophie Davis (she/her/hers), is a founding member and Artistic Director of Halcyon, a Maine-based musician’s collective dedicated to using music and the arts to raise awareness of climate change.

Darren Ranco

Darren Ranco is the Chair of Native American Programs, University of Maine, and as a member of the Penobscot Tribal Rights and Resources Protection Board since 2012, has been developing research collaborations with the Wabanaki Tribal Nations in Maine and ensuring the protection of Wabanaki Cultural heritage.

 

David Reidmiller

Dr. Dave Reidmiller is the inaugural Director of the Climate Center at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) where he works to raise awareness of how climate change affects people throughout the Gulf of Maine region—and what they can do about it.

Chandra Robinson

Chandra Robinson is a principal at LEVER Architecture based in Portland, Oregon. Robinson has 12 years of experience creating beautiful spaces that are accessible for all. She serves on the Portland Design Commission, and prior to joining LEVER, led the construction of the largest mass timber building in the US. 

 

Why The Tidal Shift Award?

Hundreds of people gather outside City Hall in Portland, Maine, to demand that leaders take action on climate change, Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP

The Tidal Shift Award is a result of a partnership between the Portland Museum of Art and KING Philanthropies

Over the last five years, The Portland Museum of Art has worked to reposition the museum a leader in Maine’s cultural, economic, and environmental future, investing in DEAI actions while promoting an Art for All mission. Its hope has long been to center Maine and New England as a place that brings new ideas, people, and communities together. In order to achieve this goal, the PMA has made sustainability a core tenet driving its Strategic Plan.

Bob and Dottie King founded King Philanthropies in 2016 in order to organize and advance their philanthropic ambitions. After pursuing a wide array of giving efforts over many years, they decided to focus those efforts on addressing one of the world’s most pressing challenges: the plight of those who live in extreme poverty. King Philanthropies is confronting climate change and improving livelihoods by investing in solutions that, brought to scale, will decrease greenhouse emissions while producing significant economic benefits for those in poverty.

Art’s ability to inspire social change can be harnessed to fight climate change.

Inspiring Action from the Abstract.

Climate change is happening all around us, but for many, the crisis can feel intimidating and inevitable. But it isn’t true, yet. With prompt action, many of the most extreme consequences of climate change can be avoided or their worst impacts reduced.

We believe art has a unique role to play in solving our climate crisis, as it has inspired change and distilled difficult concepts throughout history. Our goal is to platform the young artists who may continue to inspire meaningful climate action. The time for action is now.

The Tidal Shift Award is made possible by King Philanthropies.  

Presented by The Portland Museum of Art, Maine. 

 

This prize supports Sustainability.   

The PMA is committed to sustainability and prioritizing thoughtful stewardship of the Earth’s resources in all we do. 

 Sustainability is funded in part by King Philanthropies. 

 

Individual Support: 

Ed and Sarah Baker 

Anne and Alexander Buck 

Thomas and Kate Cheney Chappell 

Eileen Gillespie and Timothy Fahey 

Cyrus Hagge 

Alison Hildreth 

Douglas and Sharyn Howell 

Christopher and Elizabeth Hunt 

Bree LaCasse and Chris Moore 

Karen L. McDonald 

Manny Morgan, in loving memory of Chris Corbett 

Robert and Jill Nesher 

Patricia O’Carroll and Joseph Foley 

Amy Woodhouse and Tobey Scott 

  

Foundation Support:  

Anonymous 

Corporate Support: