Past Exhibit - "Kids View the World of Plants"
What happens when you give young gardeners a set of art supplies? Visitors found out at a new outdoor exhibit that opened in April 1999 at the U.S. Botanic Garden. The exhibit was mounted on the construction fence surrounding the site for the Conservatory's renovation and new National Garden.
"Kids View the World of Plants" was the result of an invitation issued nationwide to groups participating in the National Gardening Association's Youth Garden Grant Program. We asked the groups to contribute art that reflected how their students have been involved with plants. On display were more than 215 pictures from 41 states and the District of Columbia. Each picture was accompanied by a sign identifying the title, group, locality, and artist age.
The pictures depicted school gardens, individual flowers, still life, habitats for creatures, gardeners' self portraits, and thematic motifs. They illustrated lessons learned (How to Grow a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich; Our Garden of Good Bugs and Plants), the value of plants (Without Trees There Would Be No Books; Medicinal Plants), the pride that comes with nurturing a garden (Our Little Garden on the Prairie), the sheer wonder and beauty of nature (Eagle Vision; Garden Wonderland; A Child's Garden), the cultural importance of plants (Orange Crate Art, an acknowledgment of the historical significance of citrus production to the local community), and the aesthetic, inspirational qualities of plants (Fill Your Life With Glorious Mornings; Our Glazier Garden Is About Caring For Life).
How does a group of young gardeners create a painting? Apparently, there are almost as many ways as there are groups! Some asked the students to submit sketches and ideas for the painting and then chose the best one to be created in acrylics by a single artist. Others chose several sketches to become components of a painting created by a team of artists. Many groups allowed every student to contribute in some way to the effort, an approach that produced some of the most beautiful and arresting works in the exhibit. For example, in Little Fingers Make a Print on the World, all 42 students, aged 5 - 12 years, of Keller Elementary School on the Colville Indian Reservation in Keller, Washington used their fingers as brushes to create a pointillism painting of a traditional Native American plant, the arrowleaf balsamroot. Flowers, Flowers Everywhere is the work of 222 third- and fourth-grade students from Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova, Tennessee. Art teacher Catherine Wilson wrote in a note accompanying the painting, "This was too great a learning opportunity to let it pass without involving everyone. . . .The children love our garden and it has inspired many of them to think about art from an aesthetic and environmental stance."
The motivation behind "Kids View the World of Plants," the second youth botanical art exhibit to be mounted on the construction fence, was twofold. First, the U.S. Botanic Garden wanted to transform the construction fence into a positive experience for Washingtonians and tourists who pass by the site. Second, we wanted to learn more about how youth gardening was influencing learning across the nation. The National Fund for the U.S. Botanic Garden, Ames Lawn and Garden Tools, and the National Gardening Association teamed up with the USBG to cosponsor the exhibit. The cosponsors helped by providing contact information for Youth Garden Grant Winners, art supplies, and shipping for the finished paintings.
What did this exhibit tell us? Collectively, the paintings spoke volumes about the many ways our nation's youth are involved with plants, providing eloquent testimony to the value of gardening as an educational tool. In a time of disheartening news, the exhibit was a bold, colorful statement that our young people are learning to appreciate the beauty, value, and diversity of plants. This was no small matter, for so many human needs are met directly or indirectly by plants. As tomorrow's adults and future stewards of our environment, these students will be better equipped to make well informed decisions about what matters most, in the long run, for our quality of life.
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}