Tim Martin is a 55-year-old father of two, an architect and engineer who has spent his life working to create a livable future—not just for his own children, but for all children. Quiet and deeply committed, Tim has organized climate film festivals, supported democratic innovations like People’s Assemblies, and helped launch a movement called Engaging Hate by the Grace of Dignity, dedicated to transforming conflict through compassion.
“We need to tell stories about an economy that works for all within planetary boundaries” – Tim Martin
In 2023, in an act of civil disobedience with the climate group Declare Emergency, Tim and fellow activist Joanna Smith used washable children’s fingerpaint on the glass display case housing Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer of Fourteen Years at the National Gallery of Art. The statue, a depiction of a young girl, is shielded by a protective case in a climate-controlled setting. Today’s real children have no such protection—they are growing up in a world increasingly endangered by climate collapse, a crisis made worse by political inaction.
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The Little Dancer was not harmed. Yet for this peaceful protest, Tim was convicted of two felonies: conspiracy and injury to government property. He now sits in the DC jail awaiting sentencing on August 22—facing prison time for trying to wake our leaders up to a future they continue to ignore.