Earth's Canvas: Exploring Creativity and Geology

Earth's Canvas: Exploring Creativity in Geology was a two-day interdisciplinary conference held on 17–18 September 2024 at Burlington House, the home of the Geological Society of London, Piccadilly, London. Conceived by lead convenor Lucy Williams, the meeting brought together earth scientists, artists, musicians, poets and writers to explore the deep connections between geology and creative expression.

Sessions were organised around three themes — Art, sculpture and illustration; Poetry and literature; and Music, sound and song — alongside skills workshops and an evening concert. The programme examined how landscapes, the subsurface, geological processes, deep time and the Anthropocene inspire artistic observation, articulation and outreach. Contributions ranged from field sketching and relief carving to geopoetry, digital sculpting and sound performances set against the iconic backdrop of Burlington House.

Organised by the Geological Society of London with support from the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics and the Curry Fund of the Geologists' Association, Earth's Canvas was a one-off symposium that built on the Society's earlier geopoetry workshops, surpassing them in scale and ambition.