Paint for the Planet 2008

Children’s Art Event to Launch UN Climate Campaign

The global United Nations campaign ‘UNite to Combat Climate Change’ kicked off on the 23-25 October with an auction and exhibit of children’s art in New York from.

The Paint for the Planet event featured a selection of stand-out entries from UNEP’s International Children’s Painting Competitions.

The original artwork was chosen from a collection of nearly 200,000 paintings which have never been displayed before. The exhibit was held at UN Headquarters in New York on 23 October.

On 25 October, a selection of the paintings was auctioned at the Harvard Club of New York City to raise emergency funds for children affected by climate-related disasters, such as the recent storms and hurricanes in the Caribbean.

The exhibit was open to all, and the art was also sold online to enable people around the world to participate. Several of the young prize-winning artists were flown to New York to share their message for the planet with decision makers, corporate leaders and the media.

Paint for the Planet launches the ‘UNite to Combat Climate Change’ campaign to support the call for a definitive agreement at the climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009. After New York, the exhibit will travel to various climate-related events and meetings around the world, culminating in Copenhagen.

The curatorial partner for Paint for the Planet is the Natural World Museum (NWM), which presents art through innovative programmes to inspire environmental awareness and action among the public.

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Paint for the Planet - Important dates:

1. Exhibit opening and media event on 23 October, 12.30-2pm at the Main Lobby of United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
2. VIP reception and auction on 25 October, 7-9pm at the Harvard Club of New York City.