The David Brower Center invites Northern California artists to apply to Art/Act: Local 2026, our annual juried exhibition showcasing four local artists whose works explore environmental themes. This year, we invite artists to explore the impacts of borders on environmental issues. 

While borders are informed by geographical features of the land, they function in our lives as fixed and absolute, despite the reality that land constantly shifts over time. Our borders also discount the natural flow of living beings—both human and non-human—throughout space. While human movement is restricted by political entities, migratory creatures from birds and butterflies to whales traverse vast distances with no regard for the lines drawn on our maps.

As we witness and respond to the recent escalation of border enforcement activity in the U.S. and across the world, we as a home for the environmental movement must reflect on how this crisis relates to the endangerment of our planet. Stubborn adherence to national borders can obscure the global impacts of environmental issues and hinder the coalition building required to address them. How can we advocate for a world that recognizes our interdependence with each other and the earth? For Art/Act: Local 2026, the Brower Center encourages artists to consider these challenges through their creative practice.