Exploring arts-based processes for teaching and learning about climate change
This pie striped of cons layers, I remem first tim perfect seeing small, r apple. The po CRicke As we momen thread matche danger The lay piles o dried p Materia plants, red thread, Shelburne Farm calendar, tissue paper
layers, water over rock Cricket (crow)?
artifact no. 2
Connect:
“TheLightPirate”,byLilyBrooks-Dalton “BlockParty”activity,ClimateCreative “Wearelightfarmers”,ClimateMitigationthroughcarbonsequestration
When Climate Creative first met in the fall, I had just finished reading The Light Pirate, by Lily Brooks- Dalton. A dystopian climate fiction novel that follows Wanda, a baby born during a deadly Florida hurricane of the same name, through her life. Many (literal and figurative) storms follow, and the catastrophe of climate change continues as Wanda’s life evolves in an ever changing landscape and world. It was a tough book to get through, but by the end there were glimmers of hope for a new way of living.
During our first Climate Creative gathering I saw this image during the “Block Party” activity. As soon as I saw the illustration Wooden Wave, I was immediately reminded of the hope described in the book’s future, most especially Wanda’s house and the way she adapted to the changes in her world. I then went on a journey down the rabbit hole of possible solutions for the climate crisis, connecting the book, the art, and the video about carbon sequestration.
“Her home hangs above, scattered amoung the canopies, a patchwork of salvaged siding and shingles and fence posts and shutters, connected by ladders and ropes. They built it equidistant between food and water, as high as the trees would allow.”
The Light Pirate
Illustration: Wooden Wave (Matthew Kawika Ortiz and Roxanne Ortiz)
“To discover who she is, a woman must trust the places of darkness where she can meet her own deepest nature, and give it voice… Weaving the threads of her life into a fabric to be named and given… Sharing it with the women around her, as she comes to a true and certain sense of herself.”
-Judith Duerk
artifact no. 3
Student(colleague)Drabbles-typed
DanielleZimmerman,MemoryofaMapleTree
TrippWhiting,LocalWoodDrabble
RoseGellman,AshStewardshipDrabble
After teaching our staff about Drabbles, colleagues Danielle, Tripp, and Rose submitted their visions of the future during staff meetings that followed. Each of their stories were about trees, which went along well with my Drabble about the Community Orchard, and other projects happening at Smokey House Center; climate-adaptive maple production, green building with local wood and Ash stewardship. I created a tree to illustrate each of their Drabbles simultaneously.
The red thread moves through each piece, representing the connectedness of all of thisin this case, the trees.
Materials: typewriter typed Drabbles, watercolor on paper illustration
Persimmon Tree artifact no. 4
After each season of School Youth Groups, I have been tasked with creating a piece of art that represents the project and its participants. In the fall of 2025, we welcomed school groups to Smokey House Center to help us establish a U-Pick Community Orchard. Many climate resilient species were planted; American Persimmon, Siberian Peach, Asian Pear, Mulberry, Serviceberry, Hazelnut, Plum. This tree represents the first species that we planted in the orchard, the American Persimmon tree. Each student that visited Smokey House (nearly 400!) signed a leaf. The school’s names are written on the persimmons. The adorable, orange fruits were created by 2 student participants. The red words highlighted on the newspaper background coincide with our mission at Smokey House; youth empowerment, identifying trees..quiet persistence. Also, unplanned and unexpectedly, you might find in those same words, wee bit of political rage...quiet persistence. Funny how art can do that. The thread connects the words, their meaning, and the ways in which our organization supports local youth and their school communities.
This piece is representative of a future full of hope.
Materials: recycled wood panel, local newspapers, red thread tag, recycled paper
artifact no. 5
