I went to the Poster House museum on 23rd Street and was able to view a variety of poster art pieces throughout the museum. I visited the “We Tried To Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970-2020”, which was on the bottom floor of the museum. This exhibit gave an overview of different events throughout history that made an impact on our environment. Within the posters, were depictions of events that shaped our environment to this day and our way of living.

This exhibit shows that caring for the environment is essential to the well-being of the present and future generations, due to the mistakes made in the past. The posters illustrated how the environment provides us with important resources such as clean air, water, and fertile soil that sustain life but we humans are harming this environment. However, protecting these ecosystems ensures a balance in the natural processes that keep our planet healthy. A healthy environment will also contribute to people’s health and reduce the number of diseases related to pollution, leading to a more sustainable life on a “greener” Earth. Climate change is primarily caused by human activities and is a serious threat to global stability, affecting weather patterns, sea levels, and ecosystems. To mitigate these challenges, it is paramount to take concrete steps to address environmental issues such as reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable practices. After all, protecting the environment is an investment in the future for all of us, it encourages us to live in harmony with nature and guarantees a planet that is better able to meet the diverse needs of all life forms. All in all, this exhibit enables people to have a general understanding of what has happened to our environment, what we are doing to it, and how we can help preserve it for future generations.

One of the several posters that caught my attention and reinforced the idea that we must protect our environment was created by Robert Rauschenberg. This poster was created around the year of 1970. Rauschenberg created his poster to illustrate the importance of Earth Day, which came into existence starting April 22, 1970. He wanted people to see the bald eagle in the epicenter of the poster being surrounded by pollution. Rauschenberg believed in the idea of art being a stimulus that calls for social change. In this case, he wanted his poster to inspire the people of America to strive to create a more healthy and safer environment, to preserve it.

Another poster that I came across was one created by Hans Erni, in 1961. The name of this piece is “Save Our Water”. He created this poster which reflected “his social, political and environmental activism.” This piece was created to gain awareness and attention to the water safety of Switzerland, which was one of the first-ever countries that emphasized the significance of environmental issues on a national scale. This poster provides people with the need to care for the water and ensuring water safety is crucial for the well-being of both our environment and human populations. Water is a finite and essential resource to sustain life on Earth, playing a key role in ecosystems, agriculture, and human consumption. The responsible management of water resources is important to preserve biodiversity, support ecosystems, and protect natural areas. Moreover, saving water is important for human health. Contaminated water can spread disease and harm the well-being of communities. By adopting sustainable water practices such as reducing pollution, conserving water, and implementing appropriate conservation practices, we protect not only our ecosystem but also the health and well-being of current and future generations. Being able to recognize the connection between water and life, we must ensure the protection and security of our water for the future development of our planet. This goes to show why we must care for our environment, which can not only shape the way we currently live but can also alter the lives of the people of the next generations.

Lastly, the organization of this exhibit allowed viewers to get a chance to take in the art pieces as a whole, whether that be from afar or from close. Viewers would be able to take a “round-trip” around the exhibit, viewing posters more extravagant than the previous. This exhibit, being one that illustrates the need to protect our environment, was thoroughly organized so that the audience can smoothly transition from poster to poster to enhance their experiences and convince them to provide care for their environment because it’s now or never.