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.
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 Reggio Emilia Approach
Loris Malaguzzi began the Reggio Emilia approach to education in Reggio Emilia, Italy, after World War II. Believing that the early years of development are crucial for children, Malaguzzi and local parents created a program built on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriched environment.
A common feature in every Reggio Emilia school is an atelier, a combination art studio and science lab, usually guided by an art teacher called an atelierista. The atelier contains a great variety of tools and materials with which to explore a bounty of natural objects and recycled and found materials. Tools available for children to use may include webcams, magnifying glasses, microscopes, projectors, and computers. Though teachers not in a Reggio Emilia program may not be able to completely duplicate it, the approach has many engaging practices that can be adapted to fit individual situations and schools.
The Nature Lab
A resource for university students is the Nature Lab at the Rhode Island School of Design. RISD faculty member Edna Lawrence founded the Nature Lab in 1937 to “open students’ eyes to the marvels of beauty in nature...of forms, space, color, texture, design, and structure.” Beginning from an original collection of 1,286 objects as a cabinet of curiosities, the collection now includes nearly 80,000 individual specimens.
The Nature Lab offers students access to both living and nonliving natural history specimens and advanced imaging systems such as high-speed cameras, an inverted compound microscope capable of fluoroscopy investigations, and more. The Nature Lab website (naturelab.risd.edu) provides invaluable teaching and learning resources.
Bringing Nature to the Art Room
Where to start to create your own atelier? First, see if your school has a science center from which you can borrow specimens and equipment. Ask students to help you collect items such as shells, minerals, skeletons, and seed pods, and create your own nature art center. Apply for technology grants to acquire equipment such as microscopes and magnifying glasses.
Take your students outside on nature walks. Use natural materials to create outdoor and indoor installations. Include contemporary artists who are inspired by nature in your curriculum, seeking a wide range of representation, technology, materials, and media.
Natalie Angier, a science journalist for the New York Times, has said, “The beauty of the natural world lies in the details.” Help your students see them.
Art teachers encourage a love of nature through various lessons using a STEAM approach, unusual materials, visits to an aquarium and an alpaca farm, and more. Students illustrate fantastical reimaginings of nature photographs; demonstrate a knowledge of color and value blending with bilateral insect drawings; team with a botanical preserve to create a butterfly mural installation; collaborate on a large-scale ceramic school garden; and more.
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