What About the Carbon Footprint of Exhibitions?

After the Huntington deinstalled its Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis exhibition last year, its team was thrilled by what it saw: not the usual postshow detritus of discarded drywall panels, vinyl signage, and plexiglass cases, but a nearly empty dumpster.

Under other circumstances, this scenario wouldn’t warrant a second glance. But when it comes to measuring the environmental impact of exhibitions, it’s a big win. Art museums have the highest average energy consumption of all cultural institutions in the United States. Every stage of exhibition making, from shipping artworks to fabricating displays, contributes to material waste and a growing carbon footprint. As the leading organizer and funder of PST ART, the nation’s largest art event—with nearly 70 exhibitions (including Storm Cloud) for the latest Art & Science Collide edition in fall 2024—Getty knew it had to take action to address the environmental elephant in the room.

Getty implemented the inaugural PST ART Climate Impact Program to provide support for participating arts organizations to measure their carbon footprint and work toward more-sustainable exhibition practices. The program, cofounded by Laura Lupton of arts sustainability strategy firm LHL Consulting and artist Debra Scacco, started with informational and peer-to-peer working sessions and one-to-one meetings for organizations to determine more climate-conscious approaches to exhibition planning. All PST ART partners were then invited to complete a Climate Impact Report tracking the environmental impact of their PST ART exhibitions, spanning material waste and energy consumption from shipping, travel, and printing.

The results are now available through the Climate Impact Program Report, the largest dataset to date on the climate impact of exhibition making. These findings will inform the next edition of PST ART in 2030 and shape how organizations can “green” their operations in ongoing ways. “The PST ART Climate Impact Program is a classic example of a big journey starting with a single step,” says Joan Weinstein, director of the Getty Foundation, which funded PST ART as well as the climate program. “Climate work requires teamwork, and I’m confident that we can continue to develop solutions together within the large-scale collaboration that is PST ART.”

Institutions tailored their participation in the program based on their unique project objectives and organizational scale, demonstrating how decisions of any size can drive change. Reports submitted by 69 percent of PST ART partners offer insights into the environmental impact of 40 exhibitions. Here’s a look at how some of these organizations made meaningful strides toward a more sustainable future for the arts.

The art of reuse

The Huntington’s bare dumpster was the result of a commitment to reusable exhibition materials inspired by the PST ART Climate Impact Program. The team repurposed cases and frames from past shows to fit the needs of the objects in Storm Cloud. Instead of standard drywall for the exhibition walls, they opted for reusable plywood panels. They also cut down on shipping and travel emissions by requesting loans from fewer regions and avoiding objects with more rigid courier requirements. All these choices aligned with the exhibition’s focus on the climate crisis and the institution’s recently adopted strategic plan incorporating sustainability.

“The program pushed us to think intentionally about the environmental impact of our temporary exhibitions,” write Melinda McCurdy, curator of British art, and Karla Nielsen, senior curator of literary collections at the Huntington. “Moving forward, we plan on using what we learned to set a higher bar for our future work.”

In addition to reducing material waste and costs, this reuse strategy sparked discussions around adjusting expectations for perfection. This was the first time the Huntington used plywood walls, and the material presented a challenge. A seam would be visible where each panel joined, a feature that wouldn’t be present on the typical drywall. Still, the team opted for the reusable option and discovered that the seams didn’t detract from visitors’ experience of the art. The panels will be utilized in future shows and are now a go-to consideration for temporary exhibitions in the space.

Similarly, the curatorial team behind the University of California, San Diego, and Birch Aquarium at Scripps’s PST ART exhibition Embodied Pacific: Ocean Unseen found that prioritizing material reuse pushed them to reimagine standard exhibition-building practices. Lumber from previously demolished walls found new life as plinths (bases for sculptures). A modular wall system purchased over 20 years ago allowed for a completely new layout with minimal additional materials. And non-PVC wall coverings, hand-painted exhibition headers, and digitally projected wall graphics provided environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic.

“Ultimately, the Climate Impact Program taught us that prioritizing sustainability isn’t just about materials,” write Birch Aquarium curator Megan Dickerson and manager of exhibit development Tina Mau, who collaborated closely on Embodied Pacific’s tracking report. “It’s about changing mind-sets, fostering flexibility, and embracing innovation to make meaningful, lasting impact.”

Community building for climate action

At the Armory Center for the Arts, climate engagement reached beyond the institution’s walls. The team doubled down on the Armory’s mission of nurturing the community and advancing equity and social justice to guide every stage of production for its exhibition From the Ground Up: Nurturing Diversity in Hostile Environments. This included encouraging artists to display work with as little waste as possible, sourcing and recycling materials through local channels, and partnering with area collectives on programming that highlighted topics like grassroots climate coalitions and sustainable food practices centered on an on-site amaranth garden planted by the collective Seed Travels.

“We empowered our team to have conversations about environmental justice and our impact on the climate through something that’s natural to the Armory as an institution, which is through community engagement and just being together,” says Danielle Hill, exhibition manager.

The team sourced exhibition materials from nearby Buy Nothing groups and shopped locally for soil, wood, and plants that were featured in several works on view, including landscape architect and media artist Aroussiak Gabrielian’s installation Future Kin. After deinstalling the exhibition, many of those materials found their way back to the community through the same Buy Nothing channels or intentional donations that strengthened area ties. Trash bins originally used to store soil for Gabrielian’s work were donated to the El Sereno Community Garden, and leftover soil was shared with a neighbor to support a backyard garden.

“Our team learned that waste is an abundance of materials that can be easily shared, especially with the use of technology and community,” Hill says. “The challenge was transportation or time frame, but we quickly overcame those barriers. Our neighbors and network were eager to receive excess materials.”

"Greener first” galleries

Early in the planning process for the Hammer Museum’s PST ART exhibition Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice, the team confronted a harsh reality. The gallery’s climate control settings would likely be the most significant contributor to the show’s overall carbon footprint. The viable solution: adopt new gallery conditions.

To do this, the Hammer followed the Bizot Green Protocol, a set of international guiding principles and climate control guidelines that prioritize more-sustainable collections care and a “greener first” mindset. Galleries are often kept at a standardized temperature in a relative humidity range. The protocol’s guidelines encourage institutions to adopt flexible ranges that are still safe for artworks on display, resulting in lower carbon emissions, energy usage, and costs.

“Breath(e) provided a valuable forum to discuss the environmental impact of our exhibitions program and led to meaningful changes at the Hammer, most notably the decision to apply the Bizot Green Protocol gallery climate standards for our exhibitions going forward,” says Michael Nock, director of exhibitions and publications management.

While the exact energy savings from the pilot are not calculated yet, the ripple effect the Hammer had on other lenders, artists, and museums has already shown positive impact. The team incorporated the adjusted gallery conditions into initial loan agreements and successfully received approval from all lenders, including major institutions and fellow program participants like the Huntington. Last year, Breath(e) traveled to venues in Houston and Davis, California, both of which also adopted the standards for the first time.

“Greening up” Getty and beyond

The PST ART Climate Impact Program is just one of many efforts Getty has been making to embed sustainable practices throughout its operations and programs. In addition to adopting the Bizot Green Protocol, it has launched international initiatives like the Getty Global Art and Sustainability Fellows program, which provides professional development and research opportunities for emerging arts and sustainability leaders, and the Managing Collection Environments Initiative of the Getty Conservation Institute, which focuses on scientific research and fieldwork for the sustainable management of collection environments in museums, galleries, libraries, and archives.

With PST ART set to return in 2030, Getty will continue to expand its holistic commitment to sustainability. The climate impact data and connections made by PST ART partners for the 2024 program have already positioned arts organizations to make meaningful contributions to climate solutions moving forward. By integrating the program as an ongoing part of PST ART, Getty can help institutions across Southern California uphold these practices as the new norm in our sector. After all, as Hill reminds us, “We’re all a part of dreaming a healthy climate future.”

Dialing In on the Data

The PST ART Climate Impact program helps fill a current gap in the standardized measurement of exhibition-related emissions, paving the way for more sustainable ways of working. The collective efforts of PST ART partners that completed reports started conversations, established networks, and generated benchmark data to use as a model for future exhibitions.

PST ART Partner Participation

• 40 Climate Impact Reports were created for PST ART projects
• 69% of partner venues completed a Climate Impact Report for at least one of their PST ART projects
• 90% of reporting PST ART projects submitted detailed emission and waste line items

Emissions Overview

• The total carbon emissions for reporting projects is 2,167 tCO2e (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a standard unit for counting greenhouse gas emissions), enough to power the electricity of 452 US homes for a year.
• Building energy, business travel, and art shipping are the largest areas of emissions. Building energy was beyond the scope of required reporting but was often a top emission area if reported.
• Flights had the highest emissions of the required reporting categories, followed by air freight.

Inspiring Change

Even though this first Climate Impact Program emphasized measurement over reduction, partners made more climate-aware decisions that improved PST ART’s overall carbon footprint.

Future Considerations

• If 33 of the reported domestic air freight shipments instead had traveled via road freight, 63.55 tCO2e in emissions would have been prevented.
• Switching from air freight to sea transport for international loans would have saved 387.98 tCO2e and reduced the total PST ART emissions by nearly 18%.
• Using virtual couriers could reduce travel emissions for couriers to zero.

Read the full Climate Impact Program Report here.