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| Cezanne |
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| Joan Mitchell |
Working in nature might provide inexpensive art makingactivities that develop an appreciation for the natural world and important ecological issues. Through their experiences outside, students will connect to the natural world in a way that inspires appreciation and reverance. They will develop an appreciation of how art and art history is connected with nature and understand the deep connections of human art making with nature.
Learning Goals for Nature Unit
Through the study and making of art students will become more observant, present and aware.
Students will develop problem solving strategies using natural materials.
Students will become knowledgeable and articulate advocates for important ecological issues.
Students will understand the importance of gardens in Western culture.
Students will develop reverence for the natural world through experiencing nature.
Students will create artwork that is ecologically beneficial, such as bird houses or recycled beach trash.
Students will develop an awareness of local ecology.
Students will better understand and appreciate their relationship with the non-human world.
Students will apply the skills of working with various drawing and painting mediums to artwork that is personally meaningful.
Students will interpret, describe, and appreciate artwork that uses ideas about nature as its defining feature and appreciate the work of artists such as Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy.
Students will engaged in sustained artistic investigations of topics that are personally meaningful to them.
Students will develop a degree of mastery in the craft and conventions of plein air drawing and painting.
Through writing, discussion, research, and viewing, students will understand how visual culture uses ideas about nature to influence our relationships with the non-human world.
Or referring to art standards:
Students will choose from a range of materials and methods of traditional and contemporary artistic practices plan and create works of art based on a theme.
Students will curate and organize a collection of objects and natural materials, to impact the viewer’s understanding of social, cultural or political experiences.
Possible activities:
Do a narrow, detailed, and specific research on one thing.
Develop awareness of perspective or scale through zoomed out or zoomed in drawings.
Create a data visualization of species in a certain area.
Students will make memories in nature/reflect on memories in nature.
Plant a garden.
Research an important subject in nature and incorporate it in their artwork using an interdisciplinarity approach.
1. Interview five people: (at least one over the age of 60). Come up with 5 questions to ask each person about their experiences with nature. For example you could ask: When you were a child do you have a specific memory playing in nature? If you could go to one place in the world to observe the natural world where would you go?
2. Make a boat (life size or miniature) using only natural materials. What can be counted as a natural material? Will your boat be functional, beautiful or creative?
3. Record sounds of nature. Record at least 5 different sounds, at least 20 seconds of each sound. Make song or combine the sounds in some creative way.
4. Try your best at wildlife or animal photography. See how close you can get to a wild animal (be very careful) or use binoculars and see if you can shoot a photo through them. Or maybe a not so wild animal. Take at least 5 wildlife photos.
5. Adopt a tree. Find a tree to love. Make bark rubbings with paper and crayon, look at the leaves or buds, research the tree, find out what kind it is, how long they live, what keeps them healthy, go ahead and hug it. Be prepared to present your findings and turn in some sort of artistic display of your tree.
6. Watch the documentary Rivers and Tides. Make an ephemeral natural work of art inspired by Any Goldsworthy. If you can camp and make the artwork while camping that’s even better. Photograph and document it with a drawing.
7. Research the artist Richard Long. Make an artwork inspired by Richard long.
8. Tie up nature. Collect little bouquets of nature and tie them up.
9. Make a piece of jewelry out of something you found in nature.
10. Find a bug (insect or arachnid) that might be ignored or even considered a pest. Do some research about that creature then make careful drawings of it.
11. Make an artwork inspired by Vincent Van Gogh, Wolf Kahn, Emil Nolde or Georgia O’Keefe using oil pastels.
12. Research: the politics of wilderness preservation in Utah or the history of landownership in the United States. Write a one page summary/opinion about the issue.
13. Research the history of labyrinths. Create a labyrinth somewhere.
14. Create a series of plein air paintings using watercolor, oil pastels or oil paint.
15. Mark Dion said: “I am not interested in nature. I am interested in ideas about nature.”
Create a collection of natural objects.
16. Research 19th century expedition illustrations. Go on a little expedition and create an illustration based on your journey.
