environmental art education

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ENVIRONMENTAL ARTS EDUCATION

IN CENTRAL OHIO: A WEB RESOURCE

A Final Project

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree Master of Arts in the

Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Nicole Marie Hartkemeyer, B.A.

*****

The Ohio State University

2006

Masters Examination Committee:

Dr. Christine Ballengee-Morris, Advisor Approved by

Dr. Patricia Stuhr

____________________________________

Advisor


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Graduate Program in Art Education

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ABSTRACT

This project is a website resource geared towards art educators interested in integrating

environmental education through the arts. It The website features relevant literature,

links to arts and environmental organizations locally and globally, environmental

artists/artworks and green classroom ideas. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the

need and rationale for such a project. The importance of this project and corresponding

paper for art education is that it illuminates the wealth of existing resources and presents

them in an integrated format that is accessible to art educators.

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Dedicated to my parents

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I extend a heartfelt thanks to my advisor, Christine Ballengee-Morris, for her

provoking conversations, professionalism and support.

I am grateful to Clayton Funk for providing me with opportunities to learn about

web design and displaying patience while I learned.

I thank Tera Stockdale for her valuable support and kind suggestions throughout

this process.

I also wish to thank the entire faculty in the art education department at The Ohio

State University. Without their passion, creativity and compelling stories, I would not be

where I am today.

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Environmental Arts Education in Central Ohio: A Web Resource

I. Introduction to the Project

The purpose of this project is to establish an easy to use and highly

accessible website for art educators to find information about

environmental education through the arts. With the manynumerous

pressures teachers address on a daily basis many art educators do not have

the time to invest in research that is currently needed to find resources and

information about environmental education and the arts. Some resources

are difficult to find which can further discourage art educators from

pursuing the topic. Additionally, many art educators have not been

exposed to environmental education and, as a result, are unaware of the

ways that environmental education and the arts are intertwined.

This web-based educational resource is specifically geared toward

Central Ohio art educators although it is appropriate for any individuals

interested in integrating environmental education with the arts. It builds

on existing resources and utilizes the existing wealth of information

available to Ohio teachers interested in environmental education. Through

this website individuals will be able to more readily find and make

connections with the many various environmental and arts agencies in

Central Ohio and, as a result, share knowledge with biologists, ecologists,

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hydrologists, business and community leaders, civic organizers, local

artists, developers and various other community members. Included

within this website is relevant literature, links to arts and environmental

agencies and organizations locally and globally, environmental

artists/artworks, and green classroom ideas.

II. Project Background

This project has been developed with the intention of serving the

art education community, although it is my hope that it the web resource

will be utilized by individuals from many diverse backgrounds. My

experiences working with fellow art educators through the Ohio State

University and as a substitute teacher revealed that art educators share a

real interest in environmental education and the arts. The problem is that

there is confusion about what this means and a lack of understanding of

where to find relevant information. As defined by the Environmental

Education Council of Ohio, Environmental education (EE) is education

in, about, and for the environment. Education in the environment helps

people develop sensitivity to their surroundings and the natural world.

Education aboutthe environment promotes understanding of the natural,

physical, and social systems that make up our environment. Education for

the environment motivates people to work to improve the environment.

Environmental education through the arts addresses the above through an

arts-based focus.

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A report conducted by The Environmental Education Council of

Ohio on preservice teacher environmental education (2002) further

indicated the need for a resource about environmental education and the

arts. This research study found that:

A total of 38 institutions responded to the survey mailed to the 51

Ohio institutions with preservice teacher education programs, for a

response rate of 74%. Results from the study suggest that, on the

whole, Environmental Education (EE) is not well institutionalized

in Ohio preservice teacher education programs. Responses

indicate that teacher education faculty may view EE as being

within the realms of science departments, particularly biology.

Only three institutions responding to the teacher education survey

offer a major or minor in environmental education, and only six

provide opportunities to receive for credit practicums,

internships or field experience in EE. Less than half of responding

institutions report that their students are exposed to any of the

content areas recommended in NAAEEs Guidelines for the Initial

Preparation of Environmental Educators. Overall, calculations

based on the data collected indicate that no more than 39% of all

teacher education students in responding institutions are exposed to

EE in any way (p. 3).

While this example pertains to preservice educators, this lack of exposure

leads to practices that do not include environmental education. Many

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available to individuals with internet access. Teachers at schools with

internet access may have the opportunity to engage in web-based research

during planning periods as well as during planning time at home. By

making access to these resources convenient it is my hope that they will be

more widely used. A web-based format for this resource requires fewer

raw materials and therefore more closely aligns with the theoretical

framework of this project regarding environmental responsibility and

making universally balanced sustainable choices.

III. Significance of Environmental Education in the Arts

A foundational idea in environmental education is that it is

interdisciplinary. It is not confined by a specific subject, rather, it is

intimately related to all subjects. The health of our planet and its ability to

support future generations is a concern that spans all human activities.

Purposeful art education responsibly addresses the worldwide effort

towards sustainable practices. Art education can address environmental

education in many meaningful and powerful ways, just as biology or other

areas of science. In fact, by teaching environmental education in the art

classroom, experiential links are created between subject areas and to the

students daily lives which serves as a motivator. As Krug and Cohen-

Evron state, the linking of curricula knowledge also motivates students

because they can begin to see (hooks, 1990, p. 113) relationships among

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fragmented disciplinary information and inquiry processes (2000, p.

268).

The arts are important in environmental education because they

provide unique opportunities for creative, realistic and sustainable

problem solving. The issues that effect our environment, both locally and

globally, are complex and multi-layered and will require a great amount of

creativity to solve. These skills, of creative problem solving, transfer to

every subject area as well as to individuals daily lives. By using the arts

to provide opportunities for students to develop these integrative skills

they become enabled to enact positive change in their own communities as

well as around the world.

IV. Review of Related Theoretical Framework

Art education that includes environmental education necessarily

involves critical pedagogy. Giroux (1999) states that:

Critical pedagogy argues that school practices need to be informed

by a public philosophy that addresses how to construct ideological

and institutional conditions in which the lived experience becomes

the defining feature of schoolingCritical pedagogy attempts to:

1. create new forms of knowledge through its emphasis on

breaking down disciplines and creating interdisciplinary

knowledge.

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2. raise questions about the relationships between the margins and

centers of power in schools and is concerned about how to

provide a way of reading history as part of a larger project of

reclaiming power and identity, particularly as these are shaped

around the categories of race, gender, class, and ethnicity.

3. reject the distinction between high and popular culture so as to

make curriculum knowledge responsive to the everyday

knowledge that constitutes peoples lived histories differently.

4. illuminate the primacy of the ethical in defining the language

that teachers and others use to produce particular cultural

practices.

Critical pedagogy is not confined by subject areas and importantly

involves all individuals in the knowledge building process. Additionally

critical pedagogy takes into account that, cultural workers need to

recognize the importance of establishing political alliances among

themselves both within institutions and among like-minded groups. In

this transformative activity activists support each other to establish

coalitions for breaking down the debilitating separation that occurs in the

workplace and between workplaces. Ultimately the university and the

community are not segregated realms for theory and practice, but

integrated components of a single system (Trend, 1992, p. 27) and a

central element in the integration of cultural education into community life

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is the establishment of alliances between cultural workers in various

fields (Trend, 1992, p. 95).

By establishing these alliances with various fields, in this case

environmental, art educators model for their studentsboth collaboration

and community relationships. Environmental education in the art

classroom makes it, possible to imagine an art education that focuses on

meaningful responses to a planet in need. Purposeful creativity is required

- creativity directed toward increasing awareness, expressing ideas,

feelings and values, and problem solving related to local and global

ecologies (Lankford, 1997, p. 50). An art education curriculum without

environmental education is meaningful, but by neglecting to discuss such

topics it also is also unwittingly contributing to the lack of awareness.

Ana Mae Barbosa, an art educator from Brazil, knows well the

environmental devastation that is taking place in her own country, as well

as, around the world. She also is aware of the deep connection this

destruction has to social issues. Environmental problems exist as part of a

network of political, economic, social, and educational problems. Because

the nature of the problem is fundamentally interdisciplinary it can only be

corrected through interdisciplinary efforts and collaboration. Art

educators have a responsibility in their field to recognize, research and

teach about our societies pressing issues. Ana Mae Barboza (1991) states

that, Art educators should join with other specialists sociologists,

ecologists, scientists, geographers, as well as architects, urban planners,

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communications specialists, social psychologists, and anthropologists in

the search for equilibrium between preservation and development that

leads to a better quality of life and a better environment (p. 60). Ecology

then becomes, not a separate subject, but the concern of all the disciplines.

Cultural traditions and ecological decisions are fundamentally

intertwined. A uniting factor of this world we live in is the fact that all of

us are part of the ecosystem of the natural world. For many cultures

cultural identity is closely tied to the use of natural materials. It is these

ties that can teach us about cultural conservation and reconstruction. We

can understand and learn about the natural environment from past

relationships to the world and prevent the same mistakes from happening

again. Artists today are using recycled pieces for their artworks, a practice

which has its history in folk art. This art, as well as many other types of

art, considers the long term consequences of our choices and develops a

creative response. As Ana Mae Barboza (1991) states, Art educators can

encourage an ecological understanding of art and our world by teaching

their students about these artists and a respect for diversity, their materials,

and their creativity. (p. 71)

An art curriculum that deals with ecological issues empowers

students to become motivators of change in creative ways. In order to do

this the art curriculum should be enlarged to include art forms that actively

confront environmental problems. Krug and Cohen-Evron (2000) state

that:

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Life-centered approaches to curriculum organization infuse the arts

with other subject areas to conduct inquiry about personal and

socially relevant ideas, issues, or problems. Mary Jane Jacob

(1995) suggests that art must reach those for whom the arts

subject is a critical life issue (p. 54). For example, artist and

architect Paolo Soleri created a plan for an Arizona community

based on using limited energy resources. Ecological artist Viet

Ngo works with large-scale communities to construct sewage

treatment plants that use plant life and wetlands to purify water.

Alan Sonfist has restored portions of urban landscapes with

historic memories by reintroducing indigenous plants and animals.

(p. 268)

Taking students outside of the classroom space to explore environmental

issues on the school grounds exposes them to the issues relevant to

themselves and to the school community. Through the process of

exploring eco-artists and artworks students can begin to see the ways that

they might creatively work to create solutions to the environmental issues

directly affecting them. Artists such as Joseph Beuys, Helen and Newton

Harrison, Mierle Ukeles, Mel Chin, Patricia Johanson, Andy Goldsworthy

and Tim Collins are examples of the diversity of individuals working to

bring awareness to ecological issues. Using a diversity of such artists in

the art curriculum broadens the boundaries of art and enhances students

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awareness of ecological issues and validates the power they have to create

potential solutions to these issues.

V. Relevance of Eco-Art and Artists

Artists and their artworks shed light on environmental issues and

ecological systems. These artworks, termed eco-art, utilize multiple

vantage points from which to view this world and call attention to the

complexities of our physical and social environment. Investigating the

wide array of eco-art uncovers the potential and possibility of human

action in the environment. Humans and nature are fundamentally

interconnected and the arts hold an important role in exposing this

interconnectedness, culture is interdependent with nature and the arts

represent some of the most telling and extraordinary examples of everyday

life (Krug, 2003, p. 1).

Because human culture is fundamentally part of the natural world

it is of the utmost importance that ecological issues are addressed through

the arts. There are many artists who are using their art to make a positive

impact upon these ecological issues. The artist and writer Ruth Wallen,

draws attention to this interconnectedness, and to important ecological

issues, both through her words and through her artworks. She states that

her, artwork centers around stories-stories that reestablish connections,

stories that make relationships, stories that kindle meaning. [My] work

begins by closely observing a place in a deliberate attempt to slow down,

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to look and listen carefully (Wallen, 2003, p. 179). By creating her

works using metaphors and then reflecting upon them through language

that challenges traditional interpretations the interconnectedness of our

world unfolds in unique ways. This is clearly demonstrated in her

description of her project, View Points (1995), which was created for the

Tijuana River Estuary as a way to draw attention to the multiple ecological

issues that surround it, including pollution, border crossing and erosion.

Wallen (2003) states:

In the nature walk I encourage the view to contemplate the

biological and political realities that affect the estuary. Though I

was directed by park officials to avoid controversy and focus on

the biological resources, my challenge was to frame ecosystemic

concepts in a way that included human beings in the natural

environment.

The work begins with the metaphor of the Claude glass. In

the 18th century, Europeans on country walks would stand with

their backs to the landscape and use this concave mirror to frame

an idealized viewWhen the viewer walks down the path, instead

of focusing on plant and animal identification as in a traditional

nature walk, the panels refer to ecological concepts such as

niche, diversity or endangered species, as well as to

historical occurrences such as proposed sewage treatment plant or

the reliance of the endangered clapper rail population on periodic

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dredging to keep the mouth of the estuary open. To encourage

further thought, each panel includes a challenging question that

relates the human to the nonhuman environments

Additionally, each station includes some type of viewing

scope-ranging from spotting scopes to polarizing filters to

kaleidoscopes-that in some way frames or distorts the view. As

suggested by the metaphor of the Claude glass, ones

preconceptions about the landscape affect ones perceptions of the

estuary. This idea is summed up in the last panel, which refers to

Heisenbergs uncertainty principle, i.e. that what is seen and how it

is described depends on the position held by the observer. (p. 183)

The interpretations offered by this experience are much different than

those offered in parks and museums. The artist intent is to create an

experience that encourages the viewer to look at the world differently.

Wallen brings together aspects of nature in a way that consciously reflects

and enhances our bond with the environment. It has the potential to affect

us at the core of our being and point the way toward greater bonding with

our environment. She encourages the viewer to connect with this

installation through her use of language to guide the viewer in

contemplation and by involving the health of local water supplies.

Many eco-artists are acutely aware of the ecological issues that

exist within specific communities and in their own backyards. As a result

many artists are addressing these issues through their art, ecoartists seek

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to gain access to and become advocates for communities, working as both

co-learners and co-creators. Their work is collaborative and supports both

natural and social systems (Watts, 2005, p.1). Krug (2003) similarly

states that, most contemporary ecological artists are keenly attuned to the

fluctuating interconnectedness of art, aesthetics, ecology and culture.

Artists are working collaboratively with members of communities to use

their creative energies to solve real life-centered problems that affect the

interdependency of nature and culture (p. 7). The artists Jackie Brookner

and Susan Steinman demonstrate this collaboration with their work in the

town of Tillamook, Oregon:

Brookner and Steinman collaborated with the Tillamook Bay

Estuary Commission, a consortium of local civic and

environmental groups working toward constructing a four-mile

trail along the banks of the Hoquarten Slough. The trail would

connect the city with the bay and provide pedestrian and bike paths

and economic opportunities for the town. With a nascent

Tillamook Art Committee, Brookner and Steinman envisioned

plans to restore a derelict historic house sited between the slough

and civic center as a trailhead meeting place for eco-art exhibitions

and bulletin spaceand they helped design the conceptual plans

for the trail. Armed with Brookner and Steinmans concepts, local

teachers and the art committee published postcards and banners of

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childrens artworks for fundraising opportunities.

(Watts, 2005, p. 6)

Because of the increasing involvement eco-artists are having within

individual communities eco-art is becoming more accessible for many

educators. As a result there are more opportunities for collaboration and

participation between students, teachers and community members. These

collaborative opportunities are invaluable because of the connections that

forged between individuals and their local environments.

When art educators investigate eco-artworks with their students

subject areas come together in relevant ways. The process of examining

eco-artworks is interdisciplinary because all types of information is

needed to understand and interpret the artworks including: historical,

political, cultural, architectural, sociological, anthropological,

governmental, or ecological. Through the process of experiencing a

particular piece of art, students become personally involved and are able to

see their unique value in the knowledge forming process.

Through this website art educators will be able to easily find

relevant information about specific eco-artists. The result of this

accessibility of information is more informed teaching about it. The more

informed educators are about certain topics, in this case environmental

education, the better able they are to teach about it. This website is

designed with the tight time constraints facing educators in mind. It

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contains valuable information about environmental education and art in a

format that is clear and straightforward.

VI. Anticipated Outcomes

My goals for this project are multi-layered and evolutionary. This

project was designed with the intention of increasing awareness of

environmental education within the art education community. ItThe

website has been was designed to specifically appeal to art educators, but

it is my hope that it will be utilized by individuals from many other fields.

This websiteIt has the potential to inspire others to investigate

intertwining environmental education through art by exposing them to the

potential outcomes as demonstrated through by the resources provided at

through the site.

I designed it with the intention of maintaining and updating it for

many years to come. I would like to see this website grow and develop

over time, and I plan on keeping it current so that it is a reliable source of

information. I am working on linking it with both local and global arts

and environment agencies as a way of gaining visibility. Additionally, I

would like to see the art education department at The Ohio State

University provide a link to this site at their webpage. This increases

visibility for art education undergraduates, graduate students, preservice

art educators and prior students of The Ohio State University. The

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increase in visibility is important because it establishes an awareness of

the topic and recognition of the possibilities.

VII. Personal Connections

For me, the process of coming to this topic, of environmental

education through the arts, was gradual and very much connected to my

lived experience. Growing up my parents imbued me with respect and

appreciation for the natural world. From a young age I was encouraged to

respect the place in which I live and make environmentally responsible

choices. These lessons carried on to adulthood and subsequently to my

involvement in the art education field.

It has become clear to me through research and life experiences

that care for the environment can only be effective if it is part of your

daily life, regardless of where you are. By making environmentally

sustainable choices only when at home, care for the environment may be

of no real consequence. I say this from the position of an educator with

the realization that visibility is of the utmost importance. Young people

model their behavior both by how they are taught and by observing the

behaviors of those around them. By engaging in environmentally

sustainable practices everywhere I go, I intentionally model this behavior

to others, young people and adults. As a new business owner I have found

that modeling environmentally sustainable practices in the work place is

easy to do, especially after having extensively researched the ways to do

this. My business takes steps to conserve energy and water, recycles and

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limits the amount of waste generated by reusing materials. These

behaviors are modeled to every individual that walks into my shop.

Additionally, I am pulling together a proposal for the Olde Worthington

Business Association aimed at awarding businesses that takes steps toward

green practices.

All community members including business owners and teachers

need to actively participate in the stewardship of the planet. This does not

mean making huge changes in practice, rather it means leaning how to

make small changes that carry over to all aspects of daily life. Discussing

these ideas with others and sharing your efforts with the community can

actually work to unite communities through purposeful activities and

goals. This is no easy task and it requires long-term investment of time

and energy, one step at a time.

In my lived experience I balance multiple identities including art

educator, student, business owner, environmental activist and artist. By

utilizing environmental education through the arts in my own life I have

found a way to bring these many identities together in a meaningful and

interconnected manner. It has become a way of life imbued with real

meaning and purpose.

VIII. References

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Multicultural & Cross-Cultural Research in Art Education, 9, 59-64.

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Becker, C. (2002). Surpassing the spectacle: Global transformation and the

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Berry, W. (2002). The art of the commonplace: the agrarian essays of

Wendell Berry (Norma Wirzba, Ed.). Washington, DC: Counterpoint.

Blandy, D., Congdon, K.G., Krug, D.H. (1998). Art, ecological restoration

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Bourseiller, P. (2005). 365 ways to save the earth (Simon Jones, Trans.). NewYork: Harry N. Abrams.

Collins, T. (2003). Lyrical expression, critical engagement, transformative

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Congdon, K. (1991). Art worlds, environmental images, and art education: A

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Freire, P. (1970, 1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum

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Gablik, Suzi. (1991). The Reenchantment of art. New York: Thames and

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Giroux, H. (1981).Ideology, culture, and the process of schooling.

Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Giroux, H. (1999). What is critical literacy.Rage & Hope. Retrieved March

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Grande, J. (2004). Art nature dialogues: Interviews with environmental

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Hollis, C. L. (1997). On Developing an Art and Ecology Curriculum. Art

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Hopkins, A. (2005). Groundswell: Stories of saving places, finding

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Krug, D.H. (2003). Teaching art in the context of everyday life. ArtsEdNet.

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content.php?ct_id_134

Krug, D.H., Cohen-Evron, N. (2000). Curriculum integration positions and

practices in art education. Studies in Art Education, 41(3), 258-275.

Lankford, E. L. (1997). Ecological Stewardship in Art Education. ArtEducation, 50(6), 47-53.

Lippard, L. (1997).Lure of the local. New York: New Press.

Louv, R. (2006). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-

deficit disorder. New York: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

Matilsky, B. (1992). Fragile ecologies. New York: Rizzoli International

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Ohio EPA (n/d). Our Mission. Retrieved on February 21st, 2006 fromhttp://www.epa.state.oh.us/oeef/

Orr, D. (1994).Earth in mind: On education, environment, and the human

prospect. Washington DC: Island Press.

Solnit, R. (2001).As eve said to the serpent: On landscape, gender and art.

Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.

Spaid, S. (2002). Ecovention: Current art to transform ecologies. The

Contemporary Arts Center. Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sterling, S. (2001). Sustainable education: Re-visioning learning and change.

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The Environmental Education Council of Ohio. (2002, June). Preservice

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Trend, D. (1992). Cultural pedagogy: Art/education/politics. New York:

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Wallen, Ruth. (2003). Of story and place: Communicating ecological

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Watts, P. (2005). Ecoartists: Engaging communities in a new metaphor.Community Arts Network. Retrieved on December 12, 2005 from

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