The way Ashland artist Shoshanah Dubiner sees it, the Rogue Valley has two possible futures.

In one, climate change causes massive drought, leaving the ground cracked and vulnerable to destructive fires.

In the other, humans work to correct climate change, creating islands of green plants and habitats for sensitive species, such as butterflies.

Dubiner is a one of 16 locals who created art depicting the effects of climate change, as part of a program sponsored by the Jefferson Nature Center.

"Humans are part of the ecosystem that butterflies live in today and are the prime players in story of 20th and 21st century climate change," Dubiner wrote in a summary of her painting. "It's up to us humans, not the butterflies, to do something corrective."

The artists will display and discuss their work from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Ashland Public Library, 410 Siskiyou Blvd.

The project, funded through a $4,600 grant from the Oregon Arts Commission, connected the artists with scientists at the National Center for Conservation Science and Policy.

The artists — whose mediums include dance, photography and writing — were charged with interpreting what they learned from the scientists about climate change.

"My hope with the project was through bringing the arts into it, it would make it more accessible to more kinds of people," said Susan Cross, director Jefferson Nature Center.

Two of the artists, Jim Chamberlain and Pepper Trail, created a book of poetry, essays and photography about the effects of climate change. The book, "Shifting Patterns: Meditations on the Meaning of Climate Change in Oregon's Rogue Valley," can be ordered through the Web site the authors created, shiftingpatterns.org.

"The words and images in this book arise from the natural world of the Rogue Valley today, and from our vision of possible futures," the Web site states.

The other artists featured in the project are storyteller and painter Zoe Alowan, visual artist Bruce Bayard, visual artist Ann DiSalvo, spoken wordsmith John Fisher-Smith, writer Althea Godfrey, writer Jeff Golden, watercolorist Barbara Massey, singer and dancer Vanessa Nowitzky, graphic artist Karin Onkka, watercolorist Jan Pinhero, doll maker Kandy Scott, writer Pepper Trail, weaver Thalia Truesdell and mixed media artist Marlene Warneke.

For more information on Sunday's event or the climate change project contact the Ashland Public Library at 774-6996.

Contact staff writer Hannah Guzik at 482-3456 ext. 226 or hguzik@dailytidings.com.