ORLANDO, Fla. – A new mural was unveiled in Orlando to help spread awareness about the effects of climate change.
“We spent about 40 hours creating this mural,” said Allison Dayka, who was adding the finishing touches to the climate art mural now located on Robinson Street.
Dayka is a New York-based TIMEPieces artist under Time Magazine.
She said she partnered with the VoLo Foundation, a private family organization aimed at supporting science-based climate solutions, to create the mural, which was revealed a day before its fifth annual Climate Correction Summit.
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It’s a conference aiming to drive innovative solutions to address climate change.
“It’s going to talk about all the benefits you as a consumer can receive,” said Thais Lopez Vogel, founder of the VoLo Foundation.
She said the conference will discuss everything from the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act to how climate change can affect people at home.
“It touches the economy, it touches your pocket,” Lopez Vogel said. “We the taxpayers pay after every hurricane billions of dollars because we have to recuperate from the hurricanes and they’re getting stronger and stronger because of climate change.”
The Inflation Reduction Act, a package was passed by both houses in Washington in 2022, not only promised to create jobs, but pledged to combat climate change.
“(It) represents the most aggressive investment in combatting climate change this nation has ever seen,” the environmental company said in a release. “This 369-billion-dollar commitment aims to put the U.S. on target for a 40% emissions reduction by 2040, potentially making the U.S. a leader in climate action on the global stage.”
Dayka said the climate mural acts as a form of activism, an artistic way to corroborate the date.
As someone who cares about the environment herself, the artist said that was her motivation behind painting the mural—to get people to rethink how they get rid of waste.
Dayka said she used cartoons on the mural to appeal to young people, who will be most impacted by climate change, and put it in Orlando’s Milk District to increase its visibility and spread the message.
“We have the ability to change, you know. There are a lot of people that say, ‘It’s too late, we’re all doomed.’ But I don’t think that,” Dayka said.
Lopez Vogel agreed, adding that there is a future.
“The technology exists. All we need is the goodwill of our politicians,” she said.
Lopez Vogel further emphasized the impacts of climate change, while fixable, are real.
She pointed to a study by climate risks specialists XDI, which ranked Florida as the 10th most vulnerable region to climate change in the world.
“We have the heat, we are the Sunshine State and we use fossil fuel, gas, electric, we export from other states,” Lopez Vogel said.
The pair said going forward, they hope people take a second look at what they can do to help with climate change.
“We can all do something. Use your creativity, use your vision, use your vote but most importantly use your voice now, because now is all we have,” Lopez Vogel said.
Dayka said she is set to paint a smaller version of this mural live at the Climate Correction Summit in Orlando on Friday.
The VoLo Foundation said you can catch that meeting in-person or online. Click here to learn more about the organization.
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