Environmental Artist Achieves Active Membership of Gallery Climate Coalition

Artist Claire Milner celebrates “Active Membership” of GCC

Claire Milner is a British artist based in North Yorkshire who works in collections which collate art history, science and nature. She is an Artist Member of the Gallery Climate Coalition which is an international community of arts organisations working to reduce the sector’s environmental impacts. Milner has just been selected as one of fewer than ten artists worldwide for Active Membership, along with several Blue Chip galleries, institutions and museums totalling almost 10% of GCC’s 800-strong member base who have demonstrated that their organisation has implemented environmental sustainability best practice in line with:

1.          Completing a CO2e report or audit.

2.         Establishing and maintaining a Green Team.

3.         Publishing an Environmental Responsibility Statement.

Environmental references such as climate change and mass extinction have been the central focus of Claire Milner’s image making for more than two decades and these issues have been instrumental in shaping her entire life. Her works highlight the human connection to the natural world and the impact of human encroachment upon critical ecosystems and species. Art does not exist in a vacuum and Milner believes that now more than ever an artist’s role is to hold a mirror up to the issues of our time. In a conversation with art history, current topical issues and the viewer, she gives equal value to creating work that is both aesthetically and environmentally significant.

Milner says “I am delighted to have this recognition from GCC who play a crucial role developing the tools, strategies, and research required to help make a positive change in relation to the carbon footprint of the art industry. As an industry and as individuals we must act urgently to reduce the impact on the environment of travel, shipping, materials and energy. To be true to my values I also extend this philosophy to include regularly donating funds raised from the sale of paintings to conservation and environmental organisations, ensuring that my art has a direct connection and a positive effect on the content it speaks about. The international language of art is an extraordinary agent for discourse around momentous and difficult topics such as climate change and biodiversity loss.”

Milner’s artworks have raised substantial funds for conservation and environmental organisations and have been described as "metaphors of our time" in examining the effects of humans on each other and on other species and ecosystems. Work from a recent collection was selected by the organising committee to be exhibited in the Blue Zone of the COP26 conference to illustrate species extinction & habitat loss. Her work is held in a number of private collections worldwide, including Blue Marilyn, a portrait commissioned by Rihanna.

Claire Milner’s work is represented in London by NoonPowell Fine Art.

Press enquiries, further images and information: clarry@claire-milner.co.uk