Art and the Environment
Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers balance experimentation and safety, freedom and responsibility while developing and creating artworks.
Essential Question(s): How do artists and designers care for and maintain materials, tools, and equipment? Why is it important for safety and health to understand and follow correct procedures in handling materials, tools, and equipment? What responsibilities come with the freedom to create?
7th Grade: Demonstrate awareness of ethical responsibility to oneself and others when posting and sharing images and other materials through the Internet, social media, and other communication formats.
8th Grade: Demonstrate awareness of practices, issues, and ethics of appropriation, fair use, copyright, open source, and creative commons as they apply to creating works of art and design.
High School:
Proficient – Explain how traditional and non-traditional materials may impact human health and the environment, and demonstrate safe handling of materials, tools, and equipment.
Accomplished – Demonstrate awareness of ethical implications of making and distributing creative work.
Advanced – Demonstrate understanding of the importance of balancing freedom and responsibility in the use of images, materials, tools, and equipment in the creation and circulation of creative work.
Advanced – Demonstrate understanding of the importance of balancing freedom and responsibility in the use of images, materials, tools, and equipment in the creation and circulation of creative work.
As artists, one of our responsibilities is to keep the studio (classroom) and the larger environment as safe and healthy as possible. As we take on this responsibility, we need to be aware of our choices and our actions.
Why do we focus on the safety and health of the studio and the environment?
- We are responsible for our own well-being. If we make poor choices, we can cause short-term or long-term harm to ourselves. We might accidentally cut our hand, or we might breathe in harmful chemicals, if we are not aware of what we are doing.
- We are responsible for the well-being of others. Our choices can impact the lives of others, so we need to think about the possible consequences of those choices. If we fail to dispose of a sharp blade properly, someone else may get cut. If we wash toxic chemicals down the drains, other living creatures (plants and animals) may suffer and/or die. If we neglect cleaning our work space, others who use that space may end up breathing in clay dust.
- We are responsible for sustaining the safety and health of our community and environment. If we do not dispose of sharp blades or chemicals properly, other community members may be harmed. If we do not dispose of chemicals properly, those chemicals can seep into our soil and groundwater.
How can we keep our workspace safe and healthy, and keep our environment safe and healthy?
- Maintain our art-making tools. If we take care our our tools, we will be able to use them over a longer period of time and keep them out of the landfill. This means repairing them or repurposing them. This also means not misusing them or neglecting them.
- Keep the workspace clean and organized. If we clean and organize our space regularly, we can avoid accidental injuries or breathing in toxic chemicals or clay dust.
- Reuse materials whenever possible. If you are able to save and reuse materials such as paint, glaze, or clay, do so. Unmixed paints and glazes can be placed back into containers. Unfired clay can be remixed with water and brought back to a plastic stage. Reusing these materials keeps them out of the landfill and the environment. Reuse also saves money.
- Repurpose materials whenever possible. If you are able to find creative ways to reuse materials such as cardboard, polystyrene (styrofoam), matboard, plastic straws, foil food wrappers, etc., do so. Repurposing those materials will keep them out of the landfill and the environment. Repurposing materials can also help save money.
- Dispose of materials that cannot be reused or repurposed properly. If we use materials such as paints and glazes, we should be especially careful with how we dispose of those materials. Avoid washing materials down drains because they will end up in our sewer systems and in our soil and waterways. If you are not able to save and reuse these materials, place them in a trash bag.
If you are unsure of the health risks of certain materials, you should look for an ASTM D-4236 Label. ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, develops these label to inform consumers about chronic health issues associated with a product or to caution consumers about possible health issues.
Sources for more information:
An article on environmentally friendly practices from Agora Gallery.
An article on green art-making from Dick Blick, one of the largest art suppliers in the country.
An article on potentially toxic art supplies from Green America.
In recent decades, many artists have not only been working responsibly with their tools and materials to create artwork, they have been creating artwork intended to inform the larger world about environmental issues.
One such artist is Chris Jordan who uses statistics and images to create prints which address environmental issues. You can view his creations on his website here.
