Under the sea: students inspired by science
I teach at the middle school level and have an 8th grade Portfolio class of advanced art students. In this class students get more freedom to explore their style, expand on their projects and deal more with concepts as they relate to the world, their art and self-expression.
I like teaching printmaking because it is the medium I love to work with it in my personal art practice. Printmaking doesn't get taught very often, it is an exciting and different medium for students to try. I like teaching it because it lends itself beautifully for mixed media.
For our project, I introduced the idea of ocean education and conservation to Portfolio and I let them vote on whether they wanted to explore the topic. They decided they wanted to try it out since some of them have never been to a beach.
If you don’t have a middle-schooler, I can tell you that the zoom meeting was awkward and I am grateful to Ms. Hulver for taking the time to visit with our class. My students were silent and would make questions via chat rather than unmute themselves. But in true middle-schooler fashion, as soon as the meeting was over their excitement was apparent.
I wanted to break down the project for my students so they could really focus on creating engaging designs for their chosen topic. We spoke about:
The difference between an empathetic response and an aesthetic response to an artwork
The art of conservation and ARTivism
Making a difference through art
Artists who are partnering up with scientists or whose work heavily relies on ocean education and conservation
9 ocean conservation issues
For their final project students needed to research and reflect on the following:
Decide what your ocean conservation is
Do some research on the topic
What is happening?
Why is it important?
Who does it affect and why?
Good quotes or information that can help people understand the issue
Things you learned about the topic that you didn't know before
Why does this interest you?
Create 3 sketches of your design
Choose 1 for your project and color, making sure to add which techniques you will use
The following art pieces were made by my students:
After students finish working on a project, we have an art critique. Students stand up in front of the class and walk us through their design choices, their meaning and message, things they thought were successful, and things they can improve for next time. Students also write an artist statement that goes with their piece. An artist statement is a piece of writing that helps the viewer understand and get insight into the work, which is the text next to their artwork.
Art students shared that meeting a real-life scientist helped them understand the topic broadly and know that they were listening to a trusted professional in the field. Being able to ask questions to a professional and doing in-depth research on their chosen topic allowed them to create an artwork they connected with and visually express their meaning and message more clearly. Overall, my students had a lot of fun learning about a new topic and creating an artwork with meaningful impact.
I hope that sharing my student’s work inspires other artists, art educators, and scientists to work together in sharing the important work of ocean education and conservation with both local and international communities. When we share our knowledge we can create compelling work that can re-shape, influence, and motivate others to protect our oceans.