Tecumseh PS in Burlington created an interactive art show called
Stories Of The Forest that brought to life environmental and Indigenous themes in the Halton District School Board.
Teacher and co-organizer Sarah Buckland explains Kindergarten to Grade 8 students participated in the art show, which was set up in the school gymnasium just before the winter break. Parents/guardians and community members had the opportunity to walk through the art show and experience the interactive event, which included mood lighting and sounds of nature echoing throughout the gym.
Almost 400 pieces of art were on display in the art show.
“We wanted the art show to be more than just walking through and admiring the art, we wanted it to be interactive and educational,” says Buckland. “We had elements of interconnectedness of the forest that we wanted to explore like mushrooms and their root systems and how they work together with trees.”
Students started learning about their ‘story’ in the forest, she says, and teachers led classes through lessons that related their art to the theme of the art show. After learning about their class focus, students began creating their art pieces.
“The art was displayed as an experience or an installation, rather than a typical art show,” says Denise Henderson, teacher and art show co-organizer. “Visitors were taken on a journey through the ‘forest’ where they engaged in a multi-sensory experience by taking in their surroundings through visual displays, sounds, smell and writing pieces that tied everything together.”
Students say they enjoyed taking part in this unique art show.
For the art show, Vira, a Grade 7 student, created a bee in the form of K-pop character Rosé, from the musical group Blackpink.
“Bees live in an ecosystem and need to be protected because they spread pollen and help the ecosystem grow. It makes up a lot of our life, like trees that give us fresh air to breathe.”
Buckland hopes students learned the interdependence of the environment on everyone’s overall health and well-being.
“We hope that students recognize how interdependent the elements of a forest are on each other, and that everything must work together to thrive,” he says. “We wanted to extend this as a connection to our school community by having students see that we, as a school, all depend on each other. We also want students to think about environmental issues and how one small negative thing can have a detrimental effect on nature, but more importantly, how small positive changes can have a beneficial one.”
Buckland says the art show is connected to two key areas of the
HDSB’s 2020-2024 Multi-Year Plan ‒ the Environmental Leadership and Indigenous Perspectives and Awareness.
“Our goal with the art installation was to see beyond the life that lives in the forest, but instead how those lives rely and depend on each other, and how we as humans depend on the forest. Visitors to the art show were able to learn words related to the forest in Anishinaabemowin.”
