“The Future of the Planet is in Our Hands” Oeiras International School Year 4 collective conservation art project.
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As an artist specializing in abstract paintings of the sea, nature conservation is always in my mind and is central to my work. I want to encourage people to actively seek out their connection with the natural world, because only if we care and feel connected to it can we hope to conserve it. Alongside my painting practice, I’m active in fund-raising for environmental Non-Government Organizations and run art workshops to empower young people and raise awareness of the need to preserve the environment.
I was very pleased to be asked by Oeiras International School (OIS) to design a workshop for Year 4 that would fit in with their International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) topic “How We Express Ourselves.” The idea was to create a workshop which would allow the children to use their own expression to create something "unique with a purpose." I thought that this was a perfect fit for a conservation workshop: the idea that many unique and individual actions can create positive collective results.
The children were invited to create a series of individual tiles on various themes related to nature conservation and those tiles came together to make one large piece entitled “The Future of the Planet is in Our Hands.” The themes included, “Endangered Animals,” “Positive Action - What can my family and I do to conserve nature?”, “My favorite things about nature,” and “Patterns in nature.” The kids did a fantastic job. They really ran with each theme, contributing their own ideas, making suggestions, and they were creative and imaginative in their approach.
Sophie Bell, a year 4 teacher at OIS said, “The art workshop with Joana was a fantastic experience for the Year 4 learners at OIS. It linked perfectly with the unit’s central idea: That people use many different forms of expression to convey their uniqueness as human beings. Joana also included elements of positive action the learners could take, which aligns well with the philosophy of the IB PYP regarding student agency.”
It was very interesting to see how the children reacted when they saw the assembled piece. They were delighted to see their own contributions to the bigger picture, and they were impressed and surprised to see how, together, they had created a strong collective message. For me this was a great opportunity to reinforce the central message of nature conservation, how small individual actions, sometimes seemingly insignificant, are important in shaping the future of our planet.
Art has the power to unite people around a common purpose and the workshops provide an opportunity for community engagement in a fun and meaningful way.
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Joana is an Anglo-Portuguese artist raised with an international school education, currently living and working in Cascais, Portugal. To see more of Joana’s work, fundraising, and other conservation art workshops, please go to www.joanamollet.com
Instagram:@thedesertpaintbox
FaceBook:Joana Mollet Art
