FEMA officials seeking photos, stories highlighting climate resilience in the West

FILE PHOTO: artist tools. Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

DENVER, CO. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency here is seeking photography and storytelling submissions from artists in the West highlighting climate resiliency.

The art contest is being managed by the ArtWorks Initiative, a FEMA program that connects the arts with hazard mitigation. It’s goals is to help communities grow more aware and to protect themselves from natural risks, including floods, wildfires, drought and climate change.

“The ArtWorks team wants to highlight climate resilience across the diverse range of FEMA Region 8 communities,” according to Nancy Dragani, the administrator for FEMA Region 8.

Those communities include those in Utah, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming and the 29 Tribal Nations within those states.

“A changing climate impacts us daily,” Dragani explains. “ArtWorks is interested in art that highlights the challenges of adapting to that changing climate.

“We recognize that resilience comes from confronting those challenges we face. We are seeking images of climate resilience, plus the stories that go with them.”

All established and emerging artists are encouraged to participate in the regional call for art. FEMA officials say the contest is seeking artwork to help raise awareness, inspire a dialogue and encourage action to build a more sustainable future here in the West.

Additional information and conditions about the Region 8 art initiative can be found at

https://redlineart.submittable.com/submit/18dbbe98-1bbe-43a9-82a8-a2d788f45b66/artworks-call-for-climate-resiliency-photography-and-storytelling

A ZOOM meeting to answer questions about the ArtWorks initiative is scheduled for 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 25. Interested parties can register for that event at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pc-GgrT4jH91Jnn4KPpXq2uemDmTw7kwH

“Please submit your images and stories that talk about them,” Dragani says. “Accompanying stories can be in text, audio or video.”

FEMA officials suggest that image themes might be social strength, building community, occupations, cultural values, traditions, improving infrastructure, protecting natural systems and other areas of daily life.

They also define the contest’s key terms as community resilience, hazard mitigation and climate adaptation.

Community resilience is a community’s ability to prepare for natural hazards like flooding, wildfires, drought, severe storms, etc. Hazard mitigation is any sustainable action that reduces or eliminates the long-term risk to people or property from future disasters. Climate adaptation is actions by an individual, local, regional or national entity to reduce the risks of changed climate conditions and to prepare for changes projected in the future.

The ArtWorks initiative will offer up to six awards of $7,000 each, but artist must be prepared to surrender licensing and use rights for their submissions. Announcement of those awards will take place in the August to September time frame. The deadline for submission of photography and stories to the FEMA ArtWorks initiative is June 30.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an entity of the U.S. government that currently operates under the Department of Homeland Security. FEMA employs more than 20,000 workers whose goal is to help people before, during and after natural disasters.

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