A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
“A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats” is a 12-feet wide painting quadriptych (a four-part painting), narrowly, a dystopian painting about the increased risk of flooding due to climate change in Washington, D.C.. More broadly it is an allegorical painting about our tragic human condition which, often, sees us unwilling to make immediate sacrifices and lifestyle changes in order to guarantee shared future gains, progress, and safety for ourselves and future generations – unless catastrophe strikes.
Understanding the painting:
The painting is created as a 360-degree flattened panorama of a flooded Potomac riverfront in a not too farfetched future. It captures relevant historical, cultural, political, military, and strategic infrastructure sites at risk of flooding in the DC metro region. The selected sites have both a history of flooding and are projected to be at even higher risk of flooding due to sea level rise and the more frequent and powerful weather events expected in the near future. As a reminder of how frequent and rooted in history flood events are in the region, the artist lists twelve dates below the “Potomac River” inscription. These dates represent the largest Potomac River floods recorded, as well as the earliest flooding event recorded in 1748. In fact, per historical accounts, as a young surveyor, George Washington was “blocked by flooding of the Potomac, which had been caused by the sudden runoff of snowmelt high in the Appalachians” (Randall, 1998). The sites highlighted in the painting represent a few of the significant areas most at risk of flooding and include, east to west, the city of Alexandria, the Washington National Airport, and the city of Arlington in Virginia; the National Mall and the monumental core with its memorials, museums and government buildings, historic Fort McNair, Joint Base Anacostia Bolling, and the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (which serves the District of Columbia and several counties in Maryland and Virginia) in the capital; and National Harbor in Maryland. For reasons of space and to avoid visual crowding, the artist does not include other at-risk sites like the Georgetown Waterfront, Foggy Bottom, SW DC, Buzzard Point, and Poplar Point.
Although the White House is only steps away from the flood plain, it is purposely absent from the painting to represent the Trump administration's position on climate change. Instead, a private jet with a large Trump sign on is seen leaving the DC National Airport during the disaster highlighting the chasm between people of power and means and the rest of the populace in surviving and adapting to disasters.
Finally, the artist chooses to transplant to the Potomac real photos of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. This is done both to create an imaginary bridge between his current home in the US capital and the events happening in his country of origin, as well as, to highlight that poor people everywhere are most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change because of their lack of resources, insurance policies, well-off family networks, and private jets.
Learn More about Climate Change and Flooding in D.C.:
The impacts of climate change are already felt in Washington, D.C.. In recent years, the District has been impacted by record-breaking heat waves and snowstorms, flooding caused by rising sea levels and heavy rains, and the destructive 2012 derecho storm. These events are sobering reminders that without action, increasingly severe weather events will threaten to disrupt our power grid, harm our economy, and cost lives.
As a result of climate change, DC will experience:
To learn more about the history of flooding, the science of climate change and its projected impacts in Washington, D.C. see the following resources:
The painting is created as a 360-degree flattened panorama of a flooded Potomac riverfront in a not too farfetched future. It captures relevant historical, cultural, political, military, and strategic infrastructure sites at risk of flooding in the DC metro region. The selected sites have both a history of flooding and are projected to be at even higher risk of flooding due to sea level rise and the more frequent and powerful weather events expected in the near future. As a reminder of how frequent and rooted in history flood events are in the region, the artist lists twelve dates below the “Potomac River” inscription. These dates represent the largest Potomac River floods recorded, as well as the earliest flooding event recorded in 1748. In fact, per historical accounts, as a young surveyor, George Washington was “blocked by flooding of the Potomac, which had been caused by the sudden runoff of snowmelt high in the Appalachians” (Randall, 1998). The sites highlighted in the painting represent a few of the significant areas most at risk of flooding and include, east to west, the city of Alexandria, the Washington National Airport, and the city of Arlington in Virginia; the National Mall and the monumental core with its memorials, museums and government buildings, historic Fort McNair, Joint Base Anacostia Bolling, and the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (which serves the District of Columbia and several counties in Maryland and Virginia) in the capital; and National Harbor in Maryland. For reasons of space and to avoid visual crowding, the artist does not include other at-risk sites like the Georgetown Waterfront, Foggy Bottom, SW DC, Buzzard Point, and Poplar Point.
Although the White House is only steps away from the flood plain, it is purposely absent from the painting to represent the Trump administration's position on climate change. Instead, a private jet with a large Trump sign on is seen leaving the DC National Airport during the disaster highlighting the chasm between people of power and means and the rest of the populace in surviving and adapting to disasters.
Finally, the artist chooses to transplant to the Potomac real photos of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. This is done both to create an imaginary bridge between his current home in the US capital and the events happening in his country of origin, as well as, to highlight that poor people everywhere are most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change because of their lack of resources, insurance policies, well-off family networks, and private jets.
Learn More about Climate Change and Flooding in D.C.:
The impacts of climate change are already felt in Washington, D.C.. In recent years, the District has been impacted by record-breaking heat waves and snowstorms, flooding caused by rising sea levels and heavy rains, and the destructive 2012 derecho storm. These events are sobering reminders that without action, increasingly severe weather events will threaten to disrupt our power grid, harm our economy, and cost lives.
As a result of climate change, DC will experience:
- Much warmer average temperatures
- 2-3 times as many dangerously hot days
- Longer, hotter, and more frequent heat waves
- More frequent and intense heavy rain events
- Higher tides as a result of rising sea level
To learn more about the history of flooding, the science of climate change and its projected impacts in Washington, D.C. see the following resources:
- Climate Ready DC: www.sustainabledc.org/climatereadydc
- DC Silver Jackets: www.silverjackets.nfrmp.us/State-Teams/Washington-DC
"Limauro.. knows the background of the story he tells. With "Mare Nostrvm" he places it in a context as wide as the sea"
Washington Post
Mark jenkins
October 21, 2018
"Both menacing and beautiful.. strong.. Limauro's work is well researched and necessarily emphatic"
Washington CityPaper
Erin Devine
October 19, 2018
Washington Post
Mark jenkins
October 21, 2018
"Both menacing and beautiful.. strong.. Limauro's work is well researched and necessarily emphatic"
Washington CityPaper
Erin Devine
October 19, 2018