Eco-Art Conference and Symposium | Conference and Scheduling Services | SIU

1. Environmentally- Aware Artists Make Their Own Oil Paint
    McKenzie Graham, School of Art and Design Graduate Student

This workshop is oriented around the mixing of non-toxic pigments with various mediums to create environmentally conscious oil paints. The use of toxic solvents will be replaced with safer substances along with other tips to run a more sustainable paint practice. This will be followed by the participant’s exploration of the mixed pigment on pieces of canvas. A discussion on the history of techniques as well as the science and origins of pigments and paints will be touched upon during the workshop.

2. Eco-Graffiti
    Michael J. Berry, IAEA Southern VP; and Emily Britton, Science Educator

This workshop will discuss Eco-Art/Science as the presenters share how a small rural school brought together Art2 and Bio3 students for this collaborative project. They will briefly examine a multitude of Eco-Graffiti project ideas and then share a more detailed look at how you and your students can create environmentally friendly Graffiti Moss. This is a great project to explore the world of art outside the confines of the classroom to create beautiful graffiti that literally takes on a life of its own.

3. Searching for The Mother Tree: Appreciating the Wisdom of the Forest Through
    Creating Site-Specific Art from Found Natural Materials
    Dr. Charles Ruffner, SIU Carbondale Forestry Department; and Jodi Ruffner, School of Art and
    Design Graduate Student 

Using Thompson Woods on campus as an outdoor classroom, attendees will be led through the woods, learning about and identifying several “mother trees”. This short, educational walk will culminate in the collaborative creation of a temporary, site-specific work of art from natural materials, for passers-by to enjoy until it returns to Nature. *The presenters for this workshop encourage participants to join them for an expansion of this workshop in their concurrent workshop in Session II.

4. Eco-Art Education to Eco-Activism
    Dr. Hilary Inwood, University of Toronto /Guest Speaker

From plastic markers to oil paints, art education has long relied on toxic and disposable art materials. How can educators shift to more sustainable forms of art-making with their students? In this hands-on workshop, Hilary Inwood will introduce the basics of eco-art education, and explore practical ways for educators to use their classrooms as centers for age-appropriate, creative forms of activism

5. The Intersection of Slow-Looking Strategies and Place-based Learning: Exploring
    a Local Aquatic Ecosystem
    Kathleen Frye, Director of Art Education, University of Wyoming

Participants will use Slow-Looking strategies for hands-on observations of the aquatic ecosystem of Campus Lake. We will collect samples of critters and plants and look at them closely with magnifying glasses and a portable digital microscope. We will record our investigations in field journals with both text and image, using the visual arts to describe what we see and expresses our response to the beauty of this special place.

6. 3D Trash Transformations
    Olivia Warro, School of Art and Design Graduate Student

This workshop will be focused on observation techniques in nature for inspiration in the creation of one-of-a-kind sculptures. Participants will take a short walk around campus, collecting resources and reusable materials to use in their creation process. Olivia will show slides of her own work as examples of the possibilities you can achieve with what some may consider “trash”.

7. Native Solitary Bees: Hey, We Are Pollinators Too!! 
    David Cole Moore, School of Art and Design Graduate Student

This workshop will explore how artists can play an active role in addressing environmental issues. Attendees will create bee houses/hotels to attract native pollinators. They will look at our native bee species and the important role they play in our eco-system. Attendees will be encouraged to create educational imagery on their bee houses using wood burning tools and natural materials.

8. The Illinois Arts Council: Who Are We and What Can We Do For YOU?
    Jerome Grand, Program Director, Illinois Arts Council

This workshop will introduce you to the Illinois Arts Council and their partnership with Art Education.  Attendees will be guided through the IAC grants and awards which offer funding for education, schools, and artists: Arts and Foreign Language Education Grant Program, StARTS Program: Short-term Artists Residencies, Artstour & Live Music, Individual Artist Support and more. Special attention will be given to the possibilities for focusing funding requests to meet the goals of interdisciplinary experiences – ART + Science!

1. How to Talk About Climate Change
Dr. Justin Schoof, SIU Carbondale Director, School of Earth Systems and Sustainability 

This workshop will review the basics of climate science, including an overview of how our climate has been changing and how it is likely to change in the future. We will also explore the primary drivers of climate change. Finally, participants will learn about ways to communicate climate change information to diverse audiences.

2. Letting the Earth’s Calendar Lead Sustainable Art Practices
Elyse Hickey, SIU Carbondale Zoology/Philosophy/Art Ed Graduate

For this workshop, attendees will dive into various natural resources found in southern Illinois that can be used to create inks and dyes. Attendees will be shown how to harvest and create with seasonally available materials of southern Illinois: seasonal fruits, seeds, and plant matter. Depending on what is available in April, we will either make pokeberry ink or we will make mushroom spore prints. Both practices will be discussed. *The instructor will also be forwarding a self-made mini recipe book to participants of the workshop.

3. The Illinois Arts Council: Who Are We and What Can We Do For YOU?
    Jerome Grand, Program Director, Illinois Arts Council

This workshop will introduce you to the Illinois Arts Council and its partnership with Art Education.  Attendees will be guided through the IAC grants and awards which offer to fund education, schools, and artists: Arts and Foreign Language Education Grant Program, StARTS Program: Short-term Artists Residencies, Artstour & Live Music, Individual Artist Support, and more. Special attention will be given to the possibilities for focusing funding requests to meet the goals of 

4. The Mother Tree: Honoring the Interdependent Web of Life Through the Creation
    of Mixed Media Collages
    Jodi Ruffner, School of Art and Design Graduate Student; and Dr. Charles Ruffner,
    SIU Carbondale Forestryinterdisciplinary experiences – ART + Science!

Eco-activism is a growing and active field of expression and we hope to encourage teachers and educators to incorporate some of our ideas about “Mother Trees” into their curriculum. Participants will be prompted to create their own mixed media collage that reflects their appreciation of and respect for the natural world, or perhaps as a reaction to the current ecological and climatic crises unfolding across our planet.  These creations will be inspired by what we have learned about “Mother Trees” as explored in the previous workshop and as introduced in this one.

5. Environmentally Friendly and Environmentally Informed Printmaking
    Lacie Schneider, SIU ArtED Student

Students will learn about white-line printmaking using watercolor instead of ink to transfer images from carved woodblocks. Printmaking has deep roots in satirical commentary used to point out issues that need to be addressed within society. Workshop attendees will be encouraged to create a satirical environmental theme in their white-line print imagery. Prepared collages of environmental information will be provided; attendees will be given the option to print on a collage that amplifies their print’s imagery.

6. Time, Ownership, and Place
    Anthony Deal, School of Art and Design Graduate Student

This workshop will explore art+science fieldwork methodology. Anthony will discuss his fieldwork: building modular sculptures that have a small footprint and documenting this work. Attendees will be introduced to both digital and analog methods for conducting fieldwork. This includes audio and video records, as well as, journaling and collecting detritus. The attendees will then be shown how the documentation can then be processed in the studio to create other works of art, such as installations.

7. Making Entanglement Appear: A Survey on Contemporary Eco-Art 
    Dr. Sarah Lewison, SIU Carbondale Radio, Television, and Digital Media; Artist, and Writer

In ecology, it’s a truism to say everything is connected, but difficult to feel or act upon the connection. Just as what we think of as ‘environment’ resides in the background of our lives, it’s easy to take ecological connectivity for granted, and not be concerned with it. Yet deep concern is needed to turn back the catastrophe of climate warming. Here is where art, with its tactile and affective dimensions, comes in. Art sticks to us. We can’t forget it so easily. This presentation /workshop surveys how contemporary artists approach the ecological through materials, vision, sound, social and immersive methods. These artists bring science and observation together with value formation and affective experience to make entanglement perceptible. 

8. Environmentally- Aware Artists Make Their Own Oil Paint
    McKenzie Graham, School of Art and Design Graduate Student

This workshop is oriented around the mixing of non-toxic pigments with various mediums to create environmentally conscious oil paints. The use of toxic solvents will be replaced with safer substances along with other tips to run a more sustainable paint practice. This will be followed by the participant’s exploration of the mixed pigment on pieces of canvas. A discussion on the history of techniques as well as the science and origins of pigments and paints will be touched upon during the workshop.

9. The Art and Science of Botanical Collections
    Breanna Whitley, Graduate Student, Plant Biology; Student Curator, SIUC Herbarium

Art and science have long informed how we describe, identify, and classify life on Earth. In the history of science and describing species, skilled artists were hired to depict plants and animals alike in the New World during the age of discovery. Additionally, scientists collected physical specimens as a fundamental aid to scientific inquiry. Today these specimens are used in scientific research to address environmental issues such as climate change along with other global crises. While these specimens are a critical component of novel scientific insights, they are also incredible works of art documenting the diversity of Earth. In this workshop, participants will learn about botanical collections, their uses, and practice how to mount a plant specimen collected from nature. Participants will be provided with simple ways to adapt this program for the classroom.

 

1. Letting Seeds Soar: A Seed Bomb Exercise 

    Dr. Sarah Lewison, SIU Carbondale Radio, Television, and Digital Media; Artist and Writer

We will use earth, seeds, and words to think about soil, germination, and the long association humans have had with gathering and planting seeds and cultivating plants. In working with seeds, we might consider the kinds of protection that different forms of life offer to each other, from the seed coat itself to the generation of habitat for other species that is provided once the seed sprouts. In experiencing the risk and adventure of packing and tossing seed balls, we can loosen the feelings we have in our hearts about the diversity of life.

2. Product Autopsy: Understand sustainable design principles
    Dr. Tao Huang, SIU Carbondale School of Art and Design Head of Undergraduate Studies

This hands-on workshop will walk you through basic sustainable design principles by taking apart mass-manufactured products and analyzing their structure, components, and materials.

3. The Intersection of Slow-Looking Strategies and Place-based Learning Exploring
    a Local Aquatic Ecosystem
    Kathleen Frye, Director of Art Education, University of Wyoming

Participants will use Slow-Looking strategies for hands-on observations of the aquatic ecosystem of Campus Lake. We will collect samples of critters and plants and look at them closely with magnifying glasses and a portable digital microscope. We will record our investigations in field journals with both text and image, using the visual arts to describe what we see and expresses our response to the beauty of this special place.

4. Talk to the Cow!
    Jacob Yandle, School of Art and Design Graduate Student

This workshop will focus on the process of creating paper mâché sculptures from recycled materials. The paper mache sculpture will be explored as a gathering place for environmental discourse. For this workshop, the sculpture and the focus will be the COW. Participants will be given a moment to research the cow’s role in environmental issues. They will then be invited to react to what they have learned by writing on, adorning, and reacting directly on a large-scale paper- mâché cow sculpture.  The cow will become the vessel for varying viewpoints surrounding a singular issue. The cow will be featured at the Eco-Art Exhibition in the Vergette Gallery for the closing reception.

5. Letting the Earth’s Calendar Lead Sustainable Art Practices
    Elyse Hickey, SIU Carbondale Zoology/Philosophy/Art Ed Graduate

For this workshop, attendees will dive into various natural resources found in Southern Illinois that can be used to create inks and dyes. Attendees will be shown how to harvest and create with seasonally available materials of Southern Illinois:  seasonal fruits, seeds, and plant matter. Depending on what is available in April, we will either make pokeberry ink or we will make mushroom spore prints. Both practices will be discussed. *The instructor will also be forwarding a self-made mini recipe book to participants of the workshop.

6. That’s Not Trash! Fostering a Culture of Sustainability in the Elementary Art Room
    Lisa Janssen, Art Educator, Zeigler-Royalton K-8

How does one establish a sustainability mindset when it is not present in school culture? In the art room! Encouraging the natural curiosity and creativity of elementary-aged students to set up a scrap store of materials to create artwork with, including old papers, magazines, newspapers, plastic bags, donated toys, and found materials, is an effective approach to starting conversations about our environment and sustainable practices. Learn strategies for engaging students to take responsibility for establishing a sustainable culture through direct action in their school.

7. Performing Nature
    Dr. Jonathon Gray, SIU Carbondale Communications Studies

This workshop will explore ways that performance (as an aesthetic practice, mode of inquiry, perspective on phenomena, etc.) affects our relationship with nature. Sample exercises will combine performance theory with performance activities to trouble what we mean when we speak of “nature.” Among the many questions, this workshop will explore are: How can performance serve as a resource for environmental advocacy? How can performance assist in building ecological awareness? In what ways have our performance practices participated in problematic constructions of nature? How might performance interventions challenge these constructions?

8. Art and Activism
    Dr. Cade Bursell, SIU Carbondale Cinema

This workshop offers examples of creative responses to environmental challenges K-12 students face, from puppetry to mapping to performance. How do we support our students in lifting their voices through collective, creative political art-making?