Exploring Connections between Environmental Education and Ecological Public Art

Overview & Synopsis

As an artist and educator with a strong interest in environmental issues, the author relates how he was led to ask the following questions: (1) How effective is environmental education, as it is currently taught? (2) How can ecological public art infuse environmental education with new ways of perceiving and addressing environmental issues? (3) How can educators integrate inquiry about ecological public art into the environmental education curriculum? and (4) How can the infusion of arts-based education enrich students' awareness of and appreciation for nature? In this article, the author discusses the foundations of these questions and analyzes some current educational practices in an effort to show the potential for linkages between ecological public art and environmental education. Additionally, the author explains how art can promote better environmental education for children and can encourage high-level thinking and creativity that can be integrated across subjects. (Contains 8 figures and 7 notes.)