The Future Wales Fellowship is a new paid opportunity that uses art to look at the impact climate change has on everyday life. The Fellows will be given support and opportunities to develop their own artistic work, but also to challenge the way people think about climate change to encourage people to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
The members of the Future Wales Fellowship are Kathryn Ashill; Angela Davies; Kirsti Davies; Dylan Huw; Durre Shahwar; Rhys Slade-Jones; Fern Thomas; Heledd Wyn.
The artists will receive a grant of £25,000 and will be given the opportunity to take part in events with scientists and thinkers who are working to tackle climate change and promote more sustainable ways of living.
The first of these sessions was on 28 March 2022 hosted by the Centre for Alternative Technology near Machynlleth. As well as being the first opportunity to meet as a Fellowship, members will meet and hear some of the foremost experts in the field of environmental issues and sustainable practices, in a two-day residential course.
Arts Council of Wales advertised the Fellowship in early February and received more than 90 high-quality applications.
Natural Resources Wales and Arts Council of Wales are joint partners of the Fellowship. It is part of a wider programme of work linked to a Creative Nature Memorandum of Understanding to better understand how art and culture could play a beneficial role in engaging people in key issues such as the climate and nature emergencies.
The Fellowship will explore the impact climate change is having on the people of Wales focusing on the three main themes of Energy, Food and Transport.
“We’re delighted to have selected eight outstanding artists as Future Wales Fellows who will inspire new approaches to issues relating to sustainability, wellbeing, the Climate Emergency and Climate Justice, and engage with the lived experiences of people in Wales and beyond.
“We were blown away by the passion, commitment and deep understanding of issues relating to the Climate Emergency demonstrated by the overwhelming number of artists who applied for the Future Wales Fellowships and will look to draw further upon this wealth of expertise as Arts Council of Wales works to develop our own plan for Climate Justice and the Arts.”
Judith Musker Turner, Portfolio Manager Arts Council of Wales.
“It is such a privilege to bring together this incredible group of artists. We know from our State of Natural Resources Report 2020 that, as a society, we need to live differently if we want to help limit Wales’s contribution to global temperature rise. Welsh culture is so fundamentally entwined with nature it is essential that culture is a part of our conversation about the planet we pass on to future generations.
“NRW are excited to be working with the Arts Council of Wales and the Centre for Alternative Technology on this Fellowship. It embodies many of the values that NRW was established to support and puts creativity and empathy at the heart of our response to climate change.
Joe Roberts, Lead Specialist Advisor at Natural Resources Wales.