In the News: Guerrilla-style museum tours reveal the history of climate change through art and heritage in Philadelphia

Annabel Keenan from The Art Newspaper was inspired by a tour at the Philadelphia Museum of Art — it was part of "From Our Forefathers," an innovative What Now: 2026 project from Aislinn Pentecost-Farren. The feature explores the genesis of the program.

“I had been thinking about the historic places and objects we choose to preserve in the United States and how the climate crisis changes their meaning,” Pentecost-Farren says. “I was thinking initially about heritage connected to industrial history, like coal mining museums and industrialists’ mansions, but quickly realised that most US history since colonisation is connected to the crisis.”

At the same time, Pentecost-Farren saw how museums were becoming sites of contention as climate activists across the world staged protests, including viral actions like throwing soup at art. “Most museums were reacting with indignation, saying, ‘Yes the climate crisis is important but that painting and our collection have nothing to do with it,’” the artist explains. “But the wealth that created these museums is part of the climate story and sometimes even the context and subject of the paintings are connected to the climate crisis if you dig just a little bit.”

Read the whole feature HERE.

Image via REC Philly, taken during a tour at the Independence Seaport Museum.