Soil Week Australia
Up in the Sky, Down in the Dirt
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2024 Competition Submission for St Angela of the Cross, Warragul
as a part of the Visual Art program where we foster a relationship between student artists and their school garden.
Mission of the project
Mission of the project
To promote healthy soil and it's connection to our food by exploring our school kitchen garden through touch, sight, smell, photography, drawing, painting and ceramics.
Visual Art in the School Garden
Inspiration and laying the groundwork.
Grade 1-2 Students at St Angela of the Cross have learnt that with a blink of an eye a school garden can transform - and that it has as we moved through a whole year of seasons. Much like famous artist Claude Monet, we used this ever-changing place to notice, observe, and draw inspiration from whilst also extending our ecological literacy, something we hope will continue throughout the students years at school and in their everyday life.
Our Garden Art Unit began with an inquiry into the school garden ecosystem including plant, animal, and soil, and understanding how creating habitat through planting can help it thrive. We explored biodiversity and how it has been perfected by nature over millions of years, providing services to food crops including pollination and protection from pests.
At St Angela of the cross, composting is a whole school approach/contribution and therefore we finished the unit in a whole school student-led visual art experience painting four of our compost bins, using the aboriginal seasonal calendar as inspiration coupled with our experiences, to bring this art installation to life. See all images below.
Some of the questions posed to our students included:
"What are some of the changes you observed taking place in our garden?"
Plants grow bigger and die, some plants lose leaves in the autumn, different insects and garden creatures visit, especially in spring, etc.
"Does the garden look the same in the morning as it does in the afternoon?"
Light, shadow, and colour change depending on the position of the sun and the cloud cover.
“Can you identify some of the art elements we talk about in class?”
Line, shape, colour, texture, pattern, symmetry.
“Do you believe our kitchen garden soil is healthy? How so and why is it important?”
Yes as we feed our soil compost. We have about 10 compost bins which we put our scraps, dry leaves, grass clippings, old clothing and cardboard into. We can see it's healthy because it's a bit wet, lots of micro-organisms live in there and our worms look very happy.
Prior to making our Visual Art creations we took visual inspiration from our own school kitchen garden. See below..
Image One
Healthy Soil
Healthy Soil
We explored how soil is formed through organic matter, air, water and living organisms; effectively the skin of the Earth. We learned that a balance of organic matter, from left over plants, fruit and vegetable scraps, mixed with carbon, like straw, cardboard, and dead leaf matter, helps provide structure, water retention and microbial activity to the soil. Our soil is capital H healthy, the worms are very happy!!
See image 1.
Image Two
Observing our fruit and vegetables.
Observing our fruit and vegetables.
Our Up in the Sky, Down in the Dirt vegetable patches were based on the fruits, vegetables and flowers in our school kitchen garden.
See image 2.
Image 3.
Brightening our Compost Bins
Brightening our Compost Bins
Students at St Angela of the Cross understand the important role composting plays in creating healthy soil. In visual art we are often inspired by the seasons. Each child in the school took inspiration from the aboriginal seasons observed and painted their interpretation on our boxes.
See image 3.
Image 4.
Pests and Beneficial Visitors
Pests and Beneficial Visitors
Children learned to identify differences between beneficial pollinators like birds, butterflies, and bees, and pests like moths, caterpillars and aphids, who eat or destroy leaves and plant life.
Together we explored microorganisms we can hardly see, like fungi, and invertebrates like worms, spiders and slaters.
We know they're doing their job because our garden thrives.
See image 4.
Responding/Making our Soil Week Australia Submission.
Children responded to an assortment of children's literature/picture books, tutorials, and BTN news reports, alongside their own visual observations physically exploring the school grounds and garden. Coupled with this, they covered, explored, and used a combination of components and approaches, such as the Art Elements, Design Principles, composition, techniques and styles related to the skills of drawing.
Year 1-2 Down in the Dirt - Up in the Sky Vegetable Patch
Students were asked to show their understanding through responses such as:
I can demonstrate an understanding of where my healthy food comes from, including beneficial insects, invertebrates and healthy microbes.
I can use basic shapes to draw life up in the garden and down in the dirt.
I can use oil pastels in a traditional colour pallet to complete my drawing using taught techniques.
I can brush an ink wash to highlight my soil and sky.
I can cut and paste my magnifying glass.
I can draw a detailed insect magnified.
Additional Works
NB: Year Foundation and 3-6 also explored this project:
Foundation Ladybirds - Pencil, Paint and Slicks
Year 3-4 Bees of the Hive - Pencil and Ceramic
Year 5-6 Scientific Symmetry Insects - Symmetry Insects using dot stipple and cross hatching.
Students were encouraged to apply their knowledge and observations of line, colour, form, symmetry, and texture to successfully create their pieces and upon completion have walked away not only incredibly proud of their artistic efforts but also with a newfound appreciation for the garden’s ecosystem.
This project lays the foundation for our upcoming ceramic unit where children will sculpt bugs, bird baths, bird nests and bee hives, where we explore the 3D form, line, texture, and balance.
Our future for the garden in the school art space sees it “growing” in installations both big and small including sculpture, signs, paving, market space, bug hotels, ponds, the possibilities are endless.
A project conducted by Sara Harris, Visual Art Teacher at
St Angela of the Cross, Warragul VIC
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