Critical Messages examines the key environmental issues that face our region and the many ways contemporary Northwest artists are responding to those issues in their artwork. Environmental art is a new kind of mirror, a reflection of our past and a crystal ball holdig visions of the future.

In their approach to environmental concerns, some contemporary artists face critical issues head on: growth management as seen in urban/rural conflict; the connection of transportation and urban sprawl; contested sources of energy; mass production and consumption; toxic management of land,...