Our Programs
Artists for Conservation programs are unique in concept and exist to further our mission to support environmental conservation work through art that celebrates our natural heritage. Through this website - ArtistsForConservation.org - and our programs, we engage, inspire and inform the public, and empower passionate professional artists as effective ambassadors for the environment.
ArtistsForConservation.org is the main portal that supports and promotes all our AFC programs and features several thousand pieces of original and limited edition nature inspired artwork. With over 8,000 original paintings and hundreds of original sculptures for sale valued collectively at over US$30 million, the AFC website is the largest, most sophisticated and most visited site of its kind. It is also the largest and most comprehensive nature art news and events listing resource anywhere.
Thanks to the generous support of our partners, sponsors and donors, AFC is able to develop and run numerous programs. Get involved with the AFC to support us in continuing our mission. Tell your friends, family and colleagues about us.
Annual Juried Exhibit (Live & Virtual)
AFC’s Annual Juried Exhibit – The Art of Conservation – recognizes artists for their commitment to artistic excellence and conservation, raises awareness of conservation issues, and directly supports conservation organizations through the sale of artwork. The AFC exhibit is the world's top conservation-themed art exhibit. In 2011, The Art of Conservation Exhibit was at the Artists for Conservation Festival in Vancouver, BC from Nov 5 to 13, 2011. The exhibit will feature over 70 original artworks for sale by over 50 leading nature and wildlife artists from around the world. The exhibit is currenlty on-tour at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson until March 2012. Visit the Virtual Exhibit avaliable online. |
Flag Expeditions
AFC Flag Expeditions program facilitates collaborative art and science field work to study and promote endangered species and their vanishing habitats. The program uniquely supports artists seeking to explore the world’s remaining true wildernesses and to observe the rare or endangered species that live in those places. It fosters a broader representation of the world’s biodiversity in art by some of today’s most talented artists. Each year, AFC provides special fellowship grants to artists in support of their expeditions to study, understand and then communicate important conservation issues around the world. March 2012, artists Nigel Shaw sets off on our latest Flag Expedition "The Raptors of Limpopo: One Artist's Birdbanding Quest" |
Artists for Conservation Festival
The Artists for Conservation Festival is a signature international cultural event featuring 10 days of art and environmental education, featuring the premier of AFC's annual exhibit, symposium, youth workshops, live artist demos, gallery tours and wildlife viewing, First Nations performances and film. The 2011 Festival held in Vancouver featured some of the leading nature and wildlife artists and naturalists from around the world. Featured film was "How an Artist Saved the Mountain Gorilla: Retracing the Steps of Carl Akeley." Stephen Quinn's Flag Expedition to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. |
Adventures in Art & Education Youth Program
As part of the Artists For Conservation Festival, we are excited to offer a unique program connecting youth (gr 3-10) in the most inspiring of settings, with nature through art, and introducing them to some of today's leading international artists who are dedicated to wildlife and habitat conservation. In 2011, students will be exposed to a large collection of original nature and wildlife art by over 50 contemporary painters and sculptors, and will be inspired by a roster of recognized Canadian and international artists keen to share their passion for art and nature. |
AFC Annual Art & Conservation Symposium
As part of the Artists For Conservation Festival, we are excited to feature a series of lectures, workshops, live art demonstrations and public panel discussions relating to art, nature and conservation of our natural world. Presenters include AFC artists and guest speakers from around the world. |
AFC Documentary Films
AFC proceduced it's first documentary film in 2011- "How an Artist Saved the Mountain Gorilla" - the pilot in a documentary series focused on the role of art and conservation. The first film featured Flag Expedition recipient Stephen Quinn and was produced in association with the American Museum of Natural History. AFC's documentary film series is featured at the AFC festival, special screenings, film festivals and tour venues. |
Art for Conservation
AFC’s Art for Conservation program provides an online venue for the sale of artwork with a portion of the proceeds voluntarily earmarked by the artists to support a conservation organization of their choice. Collectively under this program, several million dollars have been committed upon the sale of the artwork. |
Awards
AFC Awards exist to highlight excellence in conservation and art and to empower and reward passionate professional artists as effective ambassadors for the environment. We currently run four awards programs: the monthly Conservation Artist Award, the AFC Medal of Excellence, the Wildscape Editor's Choice Award, and the yearly Simon Combes Conservation award. |
View your shopping cart.
Featured Flag Expedition
The Raptors of Limpopo: One Artist’s Birdbanding Quest
Artist: Nigel Shaw
Time/Location: March, 2012
Purpose: The expeditions’ objective is to portray through paintings and sketches, the research being done on raptors in Limpopo province in South Africa - a unique and environmentally diverse region that supports not only a large resident and inter-continental population of raptors, but also a massive influx of European and Asian raptors that overwinter in the region.
