James & Tornadoes 

You might not expect a tornado to hit New York City—especially not on the opening night of an exhibition called Forces of Nature. But that’s exactly what happened to James Yu.

James, the architectural designer and co-founder behind the Rainforest Art Foundation and Marlene Yu Museum, was attending the debut of Marlene’s large-scale nature-inspired paintings at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum in Queens.  The irony of the name was lost on us: "God wins. Turn back." As he stepped out of his high-top green van, the rain was falling sideways—whipping around his knees. He paused. Should he go back to the van to get his umbrella or make a dash for the building?

He chose the building. Went to the restroom. And when he returned outside, he was stunned: a massive tree had snapped, flown 30 feet, and landed directly on top of his van—completely crushing it.

James walked away unharmed. But the van was totaled.
It wouldn’t be the last tornado he experienced—years later, he would encounter another one while working on his son Dan's home in Connecticut.

So when his daughter Stephanie bought her first home in Shreveport—surrounded by towering pine trees—it wasn’t just a good idea to build a tornado shelter. It was personal.

In Shreveport, the climate crisis isn’t a distant theory. It’s a lived reality.

Since 2020, we’ve seen more extreme weather than ever before. What used to be called “global warming” feels more like global weirding—with longer droughts, deeper freezes, stronger winds, and heavier rains, all hitting more often.  

Here, our infrastructure wasn’t built for these extremes.
When the wind picks up during a thunderstorm, trees crash into power lines, knocking out electricity across the city.
When temperatures drop below freezing, pipes burst, and whole neighborhoods can lose water for days.

During dry spells, fires break out more often.  

In Shreveport, climate change means blackouts, boil advisories, taking cover from tornadoes, preventing damages/loss due to floods, and more fires. It means adapting fast—and rethinking how we live, build, and protect our communities.

That’s why the Marlene Yu Museum is committed not only to inspiring love for nature, but also to acting on what’s happening around us.
Because we’ve seen what happens when the climate crisis arrives—not on the news, but at our doorstep.