Sponsored by BioMed Realty
The Gallery Window at CAA @ Canal provides an expansive opportunity for visual artists and organizations to engage with the public in Cambridge’s vibrant Kendall Square area.
April, 23 – September 4, 2026
On view | Jim Batchelor
Website | www.jpbatch-art.com.
Opening Reception | Thursday, April 23, 2026 from 6-8pm
Bio | Jim Batchelor is a painter whose prior career as an architect grounds his artwork in an understanding of cities and sustainability. His architectural projects are located primarily in the greater Boston area as well as in locations around the world (Europe, Middle East, India and Taiwan). His paintings address aspects of climate change and urbanization. He is a member of the Ocean Memory Project, an international collaboration among scientists and artists—visual and performance. His work has been exhibited in regional/international shows, including multiple CAA shows and a 2024 collaboration between local artists (i3C) and Universidad Catolica Argentina.
Statement | Jim Batchelor overlays paints, photography and three-dimensional details/textures in mixed media paintings that reflect his perspective on cities and our remaining natural habitats, all of which are impacted by climate changes. The selection of work presented here draws particularly from his paintings of the north and south pole environments, including several on aquatic life in the Arctic and Antarctic seas. His painting process connects with new research and data on critical but less familiar aspects of these environments and their habitants; the goal is to build understanding that may eventually engender positive change.
Glacial Slide
Glaciers will slide down the frozen ground on which they stand, with meltwater lubricating and accelerating their movement. That meltwater creates and travels through passages eroding the glacial structure.
Acrylics on strandboard and canvas.
Arctic Ice with Brinicles
The underside of Arctic Ice is increasingly understood as the setting where foundational species start their growth that underpins the whole ecosystem. At extreme super-cold temperatures microbial life gets its start, creating the beginning of the food chain that supports fish, whales and mammals.
Acrylics on canvas.
Overheating Tundra
Both the peat that characterizes most tundra soil and the limestone rock formation that typically underlie the tundra are common around the arctic circle. They both contain extensive methane, as well as carbon, that are being released into the atmosphere with destructive force. Temperature increases are significant in the arctic regions causing significant releases of methane and carbon dioxide
Canvas, burlap, zinc + Acrylics
Antarctic Circumpolar Current: Endangered Guardian
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which encircles the continent, has been a protective feature that has helped in limiting Glacial and Habitat loss by keeping the surrounding waters cold and deep. Nevertheless, the ravages of global warming are taking their toll on glaciers and the rich biodiversity that has characterized these waters; overfishing threatens many species including the foundational krill. The contour-like lines represent the volume of (eastward) flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar current. The high volume of water through the narrowing strait of Drake Passage contributes to the turbulent seas and creates a rich ocean ecology.Top photo credit Wojcik. Bottom image from Journal of Climate article by de Boer et al, 15 September 2022 “Impact of Southern Ocean Topographic…”
Photo print on canvas + Acrylics
Boiling Tundra
With warming and thawing of the Tundra in northern Siberia significant releases of methane are impending. Corridors for the north-south movement of diverse species is threatened.
Photo print to canvas, fibers, zinc + Acrylics
Photo source: Boiling Tundra, Sterlegova, Taimyr, Russia (1991); Peter Prokosch
Krill to Whales
Krill are planktonic crustaceans and their larvae which constitute the principal food source for baleen whales, such as the Humpback, Fin, and Minke whales shown here. Most krill are only 1-2 centimeters long (visually similar to a miniature shrimp), but their combined biomass worldwide is among the largest for all species. Krill are endangered by the warming climate and by overfishing (for dietary oil supplements, animal feed, and food products like sauces).
Acrylics on canvas.
Siberian Mounds
Mounds have emerged, likely trapped methane released by thawing permafrost. Methane can be stored below ground in crystalline as well as gaseous states; the solid contains extremely high concentrations of methane. The transition to the gaseous state is believed to be causing both mounds and explosions, which have created craters.
Assembled wood, wire mesh, burlap, fibers + Acrylics
Pakistan Flooding
Pakistan is extremely populous, developing and vulnerable to both drought and flooding. In 2022 these were both in extreme conditions, resulting in billions of dollars worth of damage and the loss of nearly 2000 lives. Global weather patterns such as La Nina (cumulatively from 2020) and heatwaves in China and Europe combined to result in damages, deaths, and massive population displacement. (“Pakistan Flooding and its Linkage with China and Europe Heatwaves”. Nature 14 October 2023)
Photo prints to canvas + Acrylics
Water Memories
In Africa and elsewhere drought and heat are parching lands, including some communities, drought has caused virtual extinction of vegetation; even areas in which fresh water supply infrastructure has been built water for life face an uncertain, foreboding future. Detail photo is from Amnesty International calendar for 2024; caption cites “Children enjoying fresh water from a modern well… no rain in 3 years….”
Acrylics on strandboard and canvas
Jakarta Sinking
Jakarta is sinking due to extraction of drinking water from deep aquifers. The country has decided to relocate all the governmental functions to a brand-new city on the adjacent island of Borneo, near Balikpapan. The area is less prone to natural disaster, but there are environmental/wildlife consequences associated with losing 990 square miles of forests. Jakarta will need to recover from the economic and social loss of the exodus of its government functions.
Contoured wood, transfer photo + Acrylics
Location | 650 E. Kendall Street, adjacent to the CAA @ Canal Gallery
Hours | Open 24/7
Past installations:
(January 21 – April 21, 2026))
Porter Gifford (September 22, 2025 – January 11, 2026
Jennifer Amadeo-Holl (June 27 – September 12, 2025)
Adriana G.Prat (May 14 – June 18, 2025)
Winnie van der Rijn (March 13 – May 2, 2025)
Martha Wakefield (January 29 – March 12, 2025)
Martha Wakefield (January 29 – March 12, 2025)
Sri Thumati (October 2, 2024 – January 8, 2025)
Jaina Cipriano (June 12 – September 13, 2024)
The Curated Fridge, juried by Jessica Burko (March 27 – May 24, 2024)
Mass Art Ceramics Program (February 16-March 14, 2024)
Alchemy of Traveling Inward (January 16-February 9, 2024)
CAA’s Sales & Rental Program (December 6, 2023 – January 9, 2024)
What If … Why Not! (November 1 – 24, 2023)
Who Do You Think You Are? (September 7 – October 11, 2023)
Pulse of the Making Portraits (July 17 – August 31, 2023)
Digital Soup – Jessica TranVo and Jael Whitney (June 5 – July 5, 2023)