Submerse NY is a state-wide flood-risk awareness and outreach effort - led by New York Sea Grant, New York State Water Resources Institute (NYSWRI) and FEMA - that aims to supplement local community capacity to communicate flood-risk creatively through visual markers and public art. Building upon the FEMA High Water Mark Initiative, this outreach effort will be tailored to local community needs, and may include use of physical art installation, sculpture, murals, signage, digital outreach, and/or physical measurement prompts such as structure-based flood rulers - to help strengthen public interest and flood-risk awareness in NYS communities.

When your community faces environmental risks or the growing impacts of climate change, launching a creative public outreach project can be a powerful first step toward fostering awareness, initiating action, and creating a supportive environment for long-term adaptation projects and policies. Designing your own public art project not only empowers your community to address urgent issues like climate change and flood resilience, but also educates and engages the public in meaningful ways. However, with so many possibilities, it can be challenging to know where to start. This tool is designed to help you navigate the process by matching your community’s preferences and constraints with suitable public art projects. Through a facilitated discussion, you can collectively answer seven key questions, allowing the tool to filter projects from our growing repository and present the best matches on the map. These examples can serve as valuable case studies as you begin shaping your own initiative.