Ecology is the science of relationships between organisms and their environments. It reminds us that human culture must reconnect with the natural world to build sustainable futures. Presented by the Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC), Eco Art on Island invites artists to observe, experience, and respond to island ecologies through cross-disciplinary creative practice, recognizing that no one is external to the social, cultural, and ecological systems shaping today’s climate crisis.
Opening May 17, this six-month-long series of exhibitions and programs at House 17 on New York City’s Governors Island is a response to decades of prioritizing economic growth over sustainability, artistic expression, and intellectual culture. Climate change is the result of unchecked materialism, and Eco Art on Island recognizes it as a global public health emergency. We urgently need artists with environmental awareness to “make the global local” and give form to shared responsibility.
Both Taiwan and Governors Island — where TAAC’s residency is based — are geographically small and ecologically vulnerable. With limited land and exposure to environmental shifts, islands face intensified consequences when ecological awareness is absent. Eco Art on Island brings artists, curators, medical professionals, and environmental experts together in a collaborative approach: artistic expression, environmental advocacy, and mental health.
Rather than revisit the Earthworks movement of the 1960s–70s, this project aims to initiate a forward-facing dialogue. The artists involved engage with human ecology, cultural trauma, and planetary health through localized, poetic, and socially engaged practices.
Participating Artists
Chia-Wei Chang, Eugenie Chao, Huey-Min Chuang, Pin-Hsin Chu, Andrea Coronil, Nina Edwards, Hsiao-Chu Hsia (Julia), Szu-Ying Hsu, Ming-Jer Kuo, John Kuo, Jiun Lai, KyungLim Lee, Ling-Kai Lin, Shih-Pao Lin & Pei-Hua Yang, Hsin-Yi Liu, Elim Mak, Wildriana Paulino, Carle Shi, Jeremiah Teipen, Pou-Ching Tsai, Atu Ram, Rhonda Weppler & Trevor Mahovsky, Yeh Fang, and CHATogether led by Dr. Eunice Yuen (MD, PhD)
Schedule of Exhibitions & Events
Thematic Exhibition 1: May 17–June 16, 2025
Solo and Special Exhibitions: June 21–July 28, 2025
- Jia-Jen Lin: Co lapsing Landscape: No One Surface the Same as Any Other
- Chia-Wei Chang: From South Pole to North Pole
- In Memory of the Pencil Walker Shi-Jin-Hua (1964–2024)
Solo and Special Exhibitions: August 2–September 8, 2025
- Ming-Jer kuo
- Eugenie Chao
- Hsiao-Chu Hsia (Julia)
- Relight+1230c & Kuai-Hua Lin
Thematic Exhibition 2: September 13–November 2, 2025
Eco Art on Island takes place at House 17 on Governors Island, a short ferry ride from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
For more information, visit taac-us.org.
Founded in 2014, the Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC) builds cultural bridges through art to deepen understanding, empathy, and ecological awareness. President Dr. Tzu-Shong Yang, Trustees Patrick Huang, Thomas Chen, Patsy Chen, and Ming Chiang, and Executive Director Luchia Meihua Lee cordially invite you to visit.