The Artists for Climate Justice Fund is an interdisciplinary effort to support equitable, grass-roots environmental conservation and other climate justice solutions through the arts.
Can we leverage art to heal the earth?
On Earth Day, 2022, we launched this effort with the publication of Stella Lei’s Inheritances of Hunger and Táíwò Hassan’s Birds Don’t Fly for Pleasure. Since then, we’ve published The Nation by Sihle Ntuli and raised over $3,000 to support the education and conservation projects of a Kichwa community in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin.
Invest in a frontline community
Mandari Panga Yasuní Jungle Expeditions is a Kichwa-owned ecolodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin. The lodge is organized to support the healthcare and education of the Mandari Panga community and contribute to biodiversity conservation in the Yasuní region of the Amazon Rainforest.
Yasuní is one of the most biodiverse places on earth—and it’s also incredibly oil-rich. Miles of pipeline lead from the rainforest, over the Andes, to the coast. The region’s Indigenous people have long suffered the environmental and human health damages of oil extraction in their territory.
Supporting the Mandari Panga community is a step toward achieving climate justice.
How it works
Our literary imprint, River Glass Books, publishes chapbooks of verse and prose using sustainable practices: we print on 100% post-consumer-fiber stock and bind copies by hand.
Proceeds from the press are directed to the Artists for Climate Justice Fund. Overhead costs are offset by earnings from other programs to maximize impact. Eventually, grants and donations will do the same.
The first beneficiary of the Fund is Mandari Panga Yasuní Jungle Expeditions for investment in educational resources and basic human needs of the Mandari Panga community.
The school at Mandari Panga: a dream within reach
The community seeks to bolster their local school with an immersive multilingual education program, a library, and a computer lab. It’s a dream of Katy Balladares and Fredy Gualinga, founding directors of the lodge, among others. The dream is within reach. Early goals of the project include stable electricity and clean drinking water at the community center, where the current school is located.
The Artists for Climate Justice Fund will be used to offset expenses related to this project.
Even a small amount makes a difference
To date, we’ve raised over $3,000 for climate justice solutions in one of the most biodiverse places on earth.
A relatively small amount: a seed to fund a dream. You can help it grow. Here’s how:
- Donate: consider a donation to EcoStudio Foundation. Use the link above, mail us a check, or visit our donations page for other ways to contribute. EcoStudio Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization and your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of US law.
- Read! Purchase a chapbook from River Glass Books. Our latest publication is The Nation by Sihle Ntuli. In 2022, we published Stella Lei’s Inheritances of Hunger and Táíwò Hassan’s Birds Don’t Fly for Pleasure. Previous titles include 28,065 Nights by Katie Manning, Into Night’s Tent by Stephen Frech, and Latch by Jen Grace Stewart.
- Artists, publishers, filmmakers, musicians: consider naming one of your projects a contributor to the fund, and dedicate a portion of the proceeds to this initiative.
- Spread the word about this effort. Tell your friends!
- Stay tuned for upcoming releases and updates.
Thank you! We hope to grow this initiative, with more arts projects contributing to the fund and additional beneficiaries receiving support for their own climate justice solutions. News and updates will be posted here.