Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Kelner

Hi Nicole, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

Growing up, I always loved art. I took every art class I could in high school, but was a bit too practical to consider art as a career. At college, I studied elementary education for my first 2 years before pivoting to study communications. After I graduated, I co-founded a kids coding program. We sold that in 2019 and I decided I wanted to work in climate after that.

I had no experience in the climate world, so I dove into learning as much as I could! After a year of self-studying, I landed my first climate job. As a fun little creative project I decided to paint a watercolor a day for 100 days. I started with doodles, then focused on painting climate solutions. I shared on social media daily and gained thousands of followers in the first few months. Then I started receiving requests for commissions and private art workshops. I fell in love with the art I was making, how much I was learning about climate solutions, and the wonderful people I was connecting with.

I quit my job and went full-time on art 4 months after picking up a paintbrush. 2.5 years later, I have 20K social media followers and my climate art has reached over 3 million people. I’ve worked with clients like Harvard, the Department of Energy, Sunrun, My Climate Journey, NYU, and The Climate Museum. I just published a coloring book about clean energy called Electrify Everything. I also just launched a Climate Art 101 Course to help others tap into their creativity and use art as a tool for climate communications.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

One of my pet peeves is the trope of the “starving artist.” I’m on a mission to rebrand being an artist and see artists in the same light that we see entrepreneurs. I have run several businesses through my career and I think of my art in the same way.

A recent challenge has been adapting to working alone. I am a people person and being an artist is quite a solo activity. I’m starting to look for collaboration opportunities now to work with friends or start longer term projects to build back a “team” element into my daily life!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

My favorite quote is “the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible” by Toni Cade Bambara. Climate has a storytelling problem and art is an overlooked climate solution. I create vibrant, playful watercolor infographics to translate new climate policies and innovative climate solutions topics into approachable images that all ages can understand.

I founded Arts and Climate Change, an organization that creates art as a tool for climate communication.

One of the paintings I’m most proud of is about the Inflation Reduction Act. It quite literally brings home the benefits of the IRA. It shows the tax benefits and incentives in a simple, playful way to inspire people to take action in their own home. I’ve had local governments around the country reach out to customize it to their cities to help educate their communities!

I think the human element of my art is what makes it shine. You can see the brush strokes and the textures through the screen and feel that a person created this. With all the AI art that is being generated, something about having a hand-painted work of art feels unique.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?

My mission is to visualize the future we want to live in and empower people to take collective climate action to make it our reality. Social media reach is a clear metric of success for me. The larger the reach one of my paintings has, the more people I am able to educate on climate solutions.

With the launch of my Climate Art 101 course, I feel incredibly proud when a student creates their own piece of art about climate solutions. I have reached millions of people with my art. My goal is to build a community of climate artists who will reach millions more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nicolekelner.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulnicole/
• Twitter: https://x.com/NicoleKelner

Image Credits

Art by Nicole Kelner