Camila Isabelle Young

Climate Artist

"Nothing in this world is as soft and yielding as water, yet for attacking the hard and strong, none can triumph so easily.”

My father often recited the Tao Te Ching in my youth, shaping my understanding of the self and the power of nature. This quote in particular has had a profound impact on my work.

Where to begin?

I seek new forms of climate solidarity through my work, ways for us to connect across cultures and environments. I turn to art as a method of cultural transmission when words aren't enough, and I seek to spark the environmental imagination.

At Yale University, I am specializing in environmental studies and international policy, with my research examining the potential for alternative treaty frameworks grounded in cultural solidarity and artistic collaboration. I approach art as a diplomatic form: a means of joining into a collective experience where you can connect beyond words. I'm currently developing an international cultural coalition for climate, The Green Table Alliance, as we lead up to COP30. As the head of Yale's student delegation to the UNFCCC, I've been working with my team to develop U.S. grassroots mobilization for climate.

My work seeks to approach what I call climate-communion: a process of understanding the environment and each other through kinship and stewardship. I carry my Caribbean islander roots into my painted pieces, recalling the vibrancy of my mother's Puerto Rican traditions in my compositions. Allegorical traditions inspire my pursuit of the visual metaphor and poetry, and I'm interested in engaging with the subjectivity of Eastern and Western environmental philosophies.

Ultimately, I see the life we live as the greatest art, and my work with communities and creatives seeks to illuminate the raw beauty of interconnection.

Awards & Honors

Exhibiting Artist at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP30

Artist Keynote Speaker for World Food Forum Flagship Event

United Nations Academic Impact Millennium Fellow

American Meteorological Society Minority Scholar

World Wildlife Fund Panda Ambassador

Fall 2024 Cover Artist for Yale Human Rights Journal

'Innovator' at Yale Innovation Summit Virtual Showcase: Proposing the Climate Renaissance

Finalist to Yale's Creative Entrepreneurship Prize

Fellowships

Yale's Summer Environmental Fellowship & Leitner International Research and Internship Fellowship (2025):

I pursued a “Climate Renaissance” experiment, exploring how interdisciplinary perspectives could transform climate discourse. I walked 400 km of the Camino de Santiago, speaking with pilgrims and clergymen about awe and enlightenment, cloistered with Trappist monks to study the significance of symbolism on behalf of climate, volunteered for a Spanish artist residency in an effort to launch a public documentary and guerrilla art campaign to halt the building of an environmentally destructive pulp factory, and worked with a nature preserve to lead a bee-house building workshop—learning how art, spirituality, and activism can reshape climate action.

Yale's Stacy L. Sanders Memorial Fellowship & Leitner International Research and Internship Fellowship (2024):

I joined Green Cross International in Geneva to engage in global discussions on nuclear cleanup and demilitarization. I facilitated the organization of a general assembly and communications with embassies. I also visited the rural mountainsides of Japan to interview a Zen Buddhist sangha. I explored how spiritual practices like “engaged Buddhism” intersect with environmental ethics and generational trauma. By connecting policy, culture, and spirituality, I aimed to uncover strategies for long-term ecological stewardship and social resilience.

Yale's Richter Fellowship, John E. Linck Fellowship (2023):

I cloistered in a historical convent in Sardinia, Italy, immersing myself in the sustainability practices of its ancient gardens. In service to the community, I contributed as the convent’s chef, supporting their daily life and mission.

Selected Exhibitions

Palette to Purpose: Ecological Visions | 2024, New York City | 2025, New Haven Ct.

Traveling Exhibition

Yale Club, NYC & Ezra Stiles Gallery, New Haven

Launched a multisensory exhibition exploring climate hope, featuring collaborations between visual artists and composers, with tactile components for low-vision audiences.

Partners: World Wildlife Foundation, United Nations Millennium Fellowship, Yale Club NYC, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Eye Matter, Relief After Disaster, New York Public Library

Press Coverage: Featured in Channel 8 News Interview and the Yale Daily News

Classical Calamity | 2024, New Haven Ct.

Ezra Stiles Art Gallery, New Haven

Curated an intimate solo exhibition bridging classical-period artistic influence and environmental narratives.

Partners/Supporters: Yale Creative Performing Arts Award

Climate’s Diplomat | 2024, New Haven Ct.

The Table and Gallery, New Haven

An exhibition highlighting the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, a collaborative week-long educational and visual event at the Table and Gallery.

Partners/Supporters: Yale Creative Performing Arts Award, The Table and Gallery, and the United Nations Millennium Fellowship

About Palette to Purpose

Palette to Purpose is an immersive audiovisual performance designed to spark meaningful conversation about the urgent need for climate action, all while making the event accessible to a broader audience. My team and I collaborated with visual artists, composers, engineers, and educators, to create a multisensory exhibit, with tactile and audiovisual presentations that convey pressing environmental issues. The exhibition allowed for the visually impaired community to participate, and we incorporated moments of reflection to inspire solidarity with the disabled community.

Through Palette to Purpose, we hope to encourage a global conversation that amplifies the urgency for climate action through art and music. This immersive audiovisual gallery brings together artists and composers, blending two creative mediums to inspire reflection about the environmental challenges we face and the future of our planet.

I founded Palette to Purpose at Yale, along with my team Krisha Ramani, Anjal Jain, and Elena Bouldin.

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