Editor's Letter: Nature

Is there any greater source of inspiration for artists than that of the natural world? No matter where you live, you live within a natural environment that has its own unique characteristics of climate, biomes, flora, and fauna. Two educational approaches to connecting art and nature offer meaningful practices to incorporate into the art room. These are the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education and the Nature Lab at the Rhode Island School of Design.

The Butterfly Project

Historic flooding in the fall of 2015 led to widespread damage to low-lying areas of the Charleston, South Carolina area. One location with significant damage was Cypress Gardens, a beautiful and historic botanical preserve. It has closed indefinitely for repairs. One impressive feature of the preserve was the Butterfly House. Three years later, members from Cypress Gardens, students from Howe Hall Art Infused Magnet School, and preservice teachers from the nearby College of Charleston collaborated to create the Butterfly Project.

Underwater Worlds

Living in Virginia Beach, a community literally surrounded by surf and sea life, I thought it was fitting for our gifted artists to explore some of the facilities in their own backyard. So, we ventured to the Virginia Beach Aquarium to learn about conservation and for inspiration for this lesson. The beauty the aquarium holds inside its doors is simply breathtaking. This field study experience provided students with ideas and inspiration for their newest assignment.

The Power to Transform

This lesson focuses on how public art can be a powerful vehicle for change and a way to celebrate and engage with our community. Together we looked at Transform/Restore: Brownsville, a collaborative mural project from the New York City Department of Probation, the Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District, and Groundswell. Inspired by Brownsville, students critically analyzed our school campus and we discussed how our school is perceived.

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Insects & Torn Edges

I needed to find subject matter that would interest my eighth-graders and, at the same time, utilize the natural torn edges of roofing felt. The irregular shape seemed ripe for some form of nature study. After seeing some images on the internet of the amazing color range of insects, I made the connection. I then tested oil pastels and soft core colored pencils on the felt and realized I had the perfect combination to capture the beauty of the insect world.

Textured Landscape Vessels

Clay is an ideal surface for exploring texture. From delicate details to deep gashes, the surface of the clay can be manipulated and, once fired, is a record of the interaction of hands, tools, and clay. As the focus of a handbuilt piece, I wanted my middle-school students to explore texturizing the clay as they developed detailed forms for landscape vessels.

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Fantasy Meets the Natural World

We briefly review the tools Albrecht Dürer used in his etchings, and we connect this to previous lessons on stippling, hatching, and cross-hatching. I ask students to recreate this same sense of anatomical precision by using multiple reference and drawing an animal with a juxtaposing depiction of realistic exterior and fantastical interior, providing a sense of peering into the animal—a window into its internal organs.

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Interpreting Destruction

Students were asked to investigate ten disastrous events that changed the world for which humans were responsible. They could choose anything from war and famine to oil spills or wildfires, contemporary or historical. As they researched, students found that while each event had its own unique catalyst, purpose, or story, the destruction could happen in a variety of ways. Some events were instant and left devastation behind, some lingered over time and changed the landscape of history, and others continue to have profound effects on our world.

Art Kits to Go

My quest for individual art kits for fifth- and sixth-grade students began with an email to my district superintendent two days before the end of the school year. Given so many unknowns as to what art instruction would look like in the fall, my main goal was to implement a successful online art experience for students.

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Material Conversations

Through her life-size, stuffed, printed, and painted fabric installations, artist Kay Healy explores real stories and memories. These appear in the form of figures, household objects, and interior spaces. Trained as a printmaker, Healy works in a broad range of media. Before creating her compositions, Healy conducts interviews with senior citizens, Southeast Asian refugees, teens, the general public, and more. She makes sketches, translates them into life-size drawings, then transfers the drawings onto silkscreens, which are printed onto fabric.

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