The City of Orlando is planting a seed by educating the community on the importance of sustainability with its “Art Pollination: Building Food Justice through Creativity” exhibit. The free exhibition, featuring artwork by 20 artists, is on display at the Terrace Gallery in City Hall through Monday, Jan. 26. The artwork, ranging from paintings to mixed media, features colorful pollinators, flowers and produce.

A USDA report indicates more than 150 food crops in the United States depend on pollinators, including almost all fruit and grain. Besides the importance of pollination, the display intends to educate the community on the significance of ending hunger in their own backyard, providing viewers with ways they can make a difference. According to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, 1 in 7 people in the Orlando area experience food insecurity. The art installation seeks to raise awareness by sparking discussions and inspiring hunger-relief solutions.

In a “Coffee with the Artists” session on Jan. 14, the community had an opportunity to meet six of the exhibiting artists and learn about their creative process and how the artwork addressed food scarcity.

Local artist Sinuhe Vega Negrin created “Pollinating a New Paradigm,” featuring an oil painting on birchwood of a head adorned with plants and two ceramic pieces with the same theme. His artwork aligns with the exhibit’s purpose.

“My art focuses on the fragility of humanity and the environment and is about changing minds,” explained Negrin. “Still life is the idea of creating a conversation with a few elements. The heads in my artwork represent us co-existing in nature and helping with finding a solution.”

The other Terrace Gallery artists include Shree Chauhan, Alexis Collum, Roxy Cousino, Kellie Delaney, Tasanee Durrett, Harry Foreman, Nathania Guerra, Peterson Guerrier, Ha’ani Hogan, Carlos Jefferson, Christopher Jones, Marquis Lee, Delia Miller, Luca Molnar, Justin Skipper, Mado Smith, PJ Svejda, Gina Tyquiengco and Shawn Welcome.

The exhibit is part of an initiative that has been funded by a $1 million Public Art Challenge grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The grant-funded program encourages mayors of cities with more than 30,000 residents to partner with artists to create innovative, temporary, public-art projects addressing urgent civic issues.

Orlando was one of eight cities to receive the public-art grant funding for its “Art Pollination” project to educate the community on food insecurity and promote healthy eating through engaging, creative experiences.

The citywide program, led by artist Juan William Chavez, encourages residents to explore food access through art displays and installations, community events and educational programming.