Earth Celebrations is a non-profit organization, founded by social action artist Felicia Young in 1991 in New York City, to engage communities to generate ecological and social change through the arts. Earth Celebrations' applies the inspirational power of the arts to build comunity, collaboration and action on climate change, water quality, river, species & habitat restoration, waste management a
nd the preservation of nature, parks, gardens, and a healthy urban environment. Programs include: Creative Climate Action, Art & Climate Solutions Workshops, Creative Placemaking, Cultural Organizing, Urban Planning Sustainability Initiatives, Theatrical Pageants, Ecological Art Exhibitions, Educational Art & Ecology Youth Workshops, Planning & Policy Civic Engagement, Panel Discussions & Conferences, Diverse Sector Coalition Building. Earth Celebrations' has a 30 year history applying its pioneering cultural strategies to generate ecological, policy and social change including: The Save Our Gardens Project (1991-2005), which applied cultural engagement strategies to mobilize a neighborhood and then citywide coalition effort that led to the preservation of hundreds of community gardens in New York City. The Hudson River Restoration Project (2009-2012) engaged 50 community partners and residents through a cultural project on climate impacts and restoration efforts of the Hudson River Estuary. In 2014-2015, Felicia applied these cultural strategies to a global context, initiating an international and collaborative effort to restore the Vaigai River in Madurai, South India, in a severe crisis due to pollution and the drying effects of climate change, which led to the forming of an official panel and trust appointed the mayor and governor to the ongoing restoration effort. Ecological City: A Cultural & Climate Solutions Action Project (2018-Present) engages community on climate solutions and ecological sustainability initiatives to mitigate flooding, run-off, carbon pollution and the future consequences of sea-level rise throughout the network of community gardens, neighborhood and waterfront of the Lower East Side of New York City.
