Art and academic research make a powerful combination.

Art is inspiring, expressive, thought-provoking and universal. The Cabot Institute for the Environment regularly partners with artists – local, national and international – to interpret and communicate our environmental research.

Now our students and staff have exclusive access to a special exhibition of art commissioned by the Cabot Institute to represent some of our research, and curated into an art trail designed to lead explorers through aspects of our changing environment, including impacts on social equity and ecological justice. The trail features six art installations, each created by a different artist.

What inspired the art?

In 2021, as part of our COP26 in Glasgow campaign, we facilitated ten fascinating conversations about climate change, artistically interpreted and brought to life by accomplished artists working in different mediums.

Every episode of ‘Cabot Conversations’ features two experts from different disciplines plus an artist who creates a stunning piece of art – from paintings to poetry, dance to illustrations – as they interpret what they are listening to.

Learn more about Cabot Conversations and watch the 30 minute versions with artists on YouTube.

• Climate Emergency*
• Power of People
• Heatwaves and Health
• Net Zero*
• Earthquakes and the Environment*
• Water*
• Ocean Floor*
• Ecosystem Services
• Resilient Cities
• Climate Justice

Five of the six pieces featured in the art trail came from the Cabot Conversations project (shown with an asterisk (*) in the list), while the last came from our Voices of COP26 commission, interpreting feedback from the public following the Conference and highlighting diverse voices speaking to policymakers before COP27.

We hope that you enjoy viewing our art collaborations as much as we enjoyed supporting their creation – we are delighted to be sharing them with you.

Our engagement work

We work with academics, students and research partners, as well as local and international communities, governments and individuals, to help understand and solve the biggest global environmental challenges. We strive for our research to be interdisciplinary, global and equitable.

One of our core areas of engagement is artist collaborations. These collaborations are rewarding for our researchers, the artists and for our larger community who have enjoyed these special pieces either at large exhibition events such as Luke Jerram’s Gaia at Wills Memorial Building in 2019 and his Oil Fountain at Bristol Cathedral in 2023 or by participating in workshops, research with the Cabot Institute or by viewing pieces around the city.

Subscribe to Cabot Mail, our weekly newsletter, to find out about future opportunities to engage with our research and attend events that bring research and art together.