Nine-year-old artivist hopes to inspire action on climate change

Palo Alto, CA, September 19, 2019—One of the world’s youngest exhibiting artists, San Francisco Bay Area native Aria Luna is lending her art to the Global Climate Strike organized by the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center in Palo Alto on Friday, September 20, at 6pm. The Palo Alto event is part of the hundreds of marches and rallies planned for 9/20 in the United States alone, inspired by 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.

The nine-year-old Latina artist is joining the march at Palo Alto City Hall and bringing posters, postcards, and coloring pages from her traveling exhibit Fusion Tide, a seven-piece interactive installation that calls attention to the problem of fossil fuel-derived plastic pollution in the world’s oceans that’s impacting the livelihood of millions and decimating marine life.

The climate crisis is a serious issue, but instead of depicting gloomy images of danger and devastation, Aria Luna’s work is imbued with vibrant color and the unbridled imagination of a child. In Fusion Tide, fantastical creatures with special powers battle plastic monsters, and whimsical Easter Eggs are embedded in each painting in Fusion Tide. These are the images that will accompany the rally participants as they walk from City Hall through Palo Alto’s downtown area, and returning to City Hall to hear talks by Sunrise Palo Alto hub founder Julia Zeitlin, IPCC scientist Chris Field, and other climate activists.

“I hope people will notice the art,” says Aria Luna about the upcoming event. “I want them to understand how important climate change is, and to get inspired to take action, and spread the word to their families and friends.”

“Climate change is the worst crisis and the biggest emergency we’ve ever had to handle,” says Steffy Reader, president of the board of the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center. “And art is how people have always spoken to each other about what’s important. Art expresses our concerns and our care for each other and the world around us. We’re glad to serve our community and enable them to say what they feel is important.”

ABOUT FUSION TIDE

Fusion Tide tells the story of Bogo Mogo, a plastic monster spawned in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and four mythical ocean protectors battling him: Fynn the Sea Dragon, Hornet the Dragon-Eel, Korall the Sea Turtle and Mantyss the Manta Ray. The exhibit debuted at Google’s Mountain View headquarters in 2018; in 2019 it was presented at the International Ocean Film Festival in San Francisco and the City of Mountain View’s inaugural Earth Day event. It is currently on display at the Consulate of Colombia in San Francisco and will move on to another venue this fall. Fynn the Sea Dragon, a striking watercolor of a hybrid creature that’s part dragon and part seahorse, was the first to hit the streets even before Fusion Tide was complete: posters of Fynn were sent to the first March for the Ocean in June 2018 to support the rally in Washington, DC. 

Link to Fusion Tide online

ABOUT ARIA LUNA

Aria Luna is one of the world’s youngest exhibiting artists and a changemaker who uses the power of her art to raise public awareness of and support for issues impacting local and global communities. Her work has been sold to private collectors in the United States and has raised funds for such causes as art programs, ocean conservation, and wildfire relief. Her public exhibits include Dragon Storm, a modular mural depicting an epic dragon battle, and Fusion Tide, an interactive seven-piece installation addressing the topic of plastic pollution of our oceans that debuted at Google headquarters in 2018 and has since traveled to venues in San Francisco and was featured in the City of Mountain View’s inaugural Earth Day event in April 2019. Aria Luna is currently working on her first gallery exhibit, titled AMAZONAS, and has been commissioned by the Aquarium of the Bay to paint a six-foot sea lion statue as part of the aquarium’s Sea lions 2020 public arts initiative. When she’s not drawing or painting, she enjoys snorkeling, rollerblading, bird watching, and saving bees in swimming pools.

Aria Luna’s web site is www.arialuna.com. She is also on Instagram.

ABOUT THE PENINSULA PEACE AND JUSTICE CENTER

The Peninsula Peace and Justice Center has been a leading grassroots activist organization on the San Francisco Peninsula since its founding 37 years ago. The organization focuses on climate activism in addition to social and economic justice, and an end to militarism, racism, sexism and all forms of discrimination.                          

PPJC is online at www.peaceandjustice.org.

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