Embodied Earth - Incite at Columbia University

Incubated Project

Embodied Earth

New York City artists are increasingly responding to the climate crisis in their art. However, their production often occurs in silos—away from each other, from the researchers whose works inform our understanding of the climate, and from the publics these artists hope to reach.

As such, the New York City-based initiative Embodied Earth is breaking siloed forms of climate knowledge by creating and empowering “Pods”. Each Pod, selected by Embodied Earth and Project III, brings together an artist, choreographer, and climate scientist who work together over a six-week production timeline to create an interactive public work. Together the Pod selects a climate justice topic to investigate and co-produce an event where audiences interact with the performance of the Pod's Project, affecting the result of the creation as it unfolds. Through the perspectives of artists, Embodied Earth centers art—in its diverse forms—as an effective medium to inspire collective climate action.

Group of people outdoors in a garden, at night, engaging in dance and gesture.
Scene from Embodied Earth's pilot project in Harlem, NY. September 2024.

As Assembling Voices Fellows, Embodied Earth founder Nicole Jackson and People’s Performance Project (Project III) founder Kasey Broekema are working to produce two Embodied Earth Pod experiments in New York. Embodied Earth's pilot programming was developed under the Project III umbrella, and will be incorporated separately in 2025.

About the Team

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    Nicole Jackson

    Nicole Jackson is a curator, writer, researcher, and founder of Embodied Earth. In their work, they hope to harness art's potential to ignite communal, radical imagination toward a more just, sustainable future.

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    Kasey Broekema

    Kasey Broekema is a New York-based creative and founder of People’s Performance Project (Project III). As the founder of Project III, she facilitates collaborations between creators and movement-based artists to redefine performance as art moves into a new digital era. She is fascinated by pushing the boundaries of impactful storytelling through producing immersive experiences, journalism, live performances, creating art, editing films, and writing stories.

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