Last Saturday, images of ice cream erupting out of a nuclear mushroom cloud lay scattered across tables in Pitzer College’s Broad Center. Audience members pocketed the postcards — originally a pastel drawing by Slow War Against the Nuclear State (SWANS) member Nancy Buchanan — as they walked through the new “Atomic Dragons” exhibition.
On Feb. 7, students, faculty and community members gathered to celebrate the exhibition, which was curated by Gallery Director Emily Butts. The exhibition featured works by SWANS, an intergenerational feminist art collective. From the postcards to the artwork on the walls, the message behind their exhibit was clear: Nuclear panic is not a thing of the past — the threat of nuclear expansion is ever-present.
As Gallery Assistant Ruby Loesch PZ ’26 described, “Atomic Dragons” is part of Pitzer’s goal to host shows that spark conversation about important issues.
“As an institution, Pitzer often does try to have socially impactful leaders, and the art galleries reflect that,” Loesch said. “I think a lot of young people don’t know [about nuclear issues]. Most people don’t think about it, or even understand what radiation is, or how it functions, or the dangers of it.”
SWANS examines the intersection of the nuclear age with society, politics and environmental issues, using artwork to weave together past and present narratives on nuclear threats. In their work, the collective’s artists utilize personal narratives and archival material to spotlight the impact nuclear weapons have on societies.
Former Pomona professor Sheila Pinkel described how the group first formed in 2022, emphasizing Buchanan’s role in bringing artists together around this shared passion.
“One of the artists, Nancy Buchanan, had a luncheon for people who were connected to nuclear issues,” Pinkel said. “Somebody got a venue, and we had a show and then we just kept going.”
Pinkel described how her passion for creating art around nuclear issues grew out of a personal connection.
“My father was a nuclear scientist. He designed the first nuclear reactor at NASA in Cleveland, Ohio,” Pinkel said. “I did not know until I was an older adult that my father had been a principal in the nuclear industry.”
In the 1980s, Pinkel first became concerned about the global growth of nuclear weapons and their connection to the military-industrial complex. She began creating art as a response to a lack of transparency on the government’s plans and policies surrounding nuclear weapons.
“It was almost impossible, like today, to get any clarity about the industry,” Pinkel said. “You can’t read a newspaper and really understand it at all. They obfuscate rather than clarify the subject.”
As a result, Pinkel’s work is primarily information art — an interdisciplinary approach that often incorporates data. In the 1980s, she created an installation series of 13 “Thermonuclear Gardens.” Each garden represents different ideas, concerns and impacts related to nuclear weapons. Although Pinkel has been creating art in relation to nuclear issues for decades, she stressed that her work is as topical today as ever.
“Nuclear issues are important today, especially after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) finished on Thursday,” Pinkel said. “The START treaty limited the number of nuclear weapons by Russia and the United States to 1,550 per country.”
The START treaty was first established in 1991. Pinkel is concerned about the treaty’s recent expiration on Feb. 5, as it grants countries more leeway to increase their nuclear capacity.
“This is a nightmare, an absolute nightmare,” Pinkel said. “If there was ever a time when people have to talk about nuclear issues and become sensitive to the dangers, it’s right now.”
Elin O’Hara Slavick, another SWANS member featured in “Atomic Dragons,” is unhappy with how the U.S. is currently handling growing conversations about nuclear weapons. Specifically, she expressed concern towards President Donald Trump’s recent request for the U.S. military to continue testing nuclear weapons — a dangerous process that was retired in 1992.
“People think that a nuclear test is just a blip, but every single nuclear test is a real nuclear bomb bigger than Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Slavick said.
Slavick’s work features many cyanotypes — a simple chemical drawing often called a “sun print.” Using this technique, she depicts images of loss and survival in the wake of the A-bomb in 1945 and the Dai’ichi Nuclear Disaster of 2011. Slavick feels this work and its eerie depictions of atomic bombs are especially relevant now, in light of President Trump’s request for further testing.
“That work, for me, is really powerful,” Slavick said. “I don’t even feel like I made that work in a way. I feel like I was just this conduit, or medium, between the idea and the chemistry and the paper I found.”
For many SWANS artists, “Atomic Dragons” serves as a way to identify and unveil the chilling presence of nuclear issues today. SWANS and Claremont students alike agree that environmental ethical codes must change. Encouraging others to care about these issues often feels difficult; exhibits like “Atomic Dragons” can be an important means of spreading awareness and sparking conversations amongst students.
“I don’t think art can change anybody’s mind,” Pinkel said. “But it can ask questions and provoke thought, giving people courage to be proactive.”