Course Description

Be Green, A Rats Eye View of Garbage is a program that fuses science, environmentalism, and art.

Students will work together to create animal sculptures from reusable materials and learn the chemistry of plastics and forever chemicals. This experience will provide a new perspective, or “Rat’s Eye View” of our human impact on the planet and provide hands-on opportunities for students to advocate for change. This project is sponsored by the Pumphouse Regional Arts Center. Community artists, scientists and university students will collaborate with art educators to provide studio time, research time and field trips to local garbage and recycling plants. Through the written word students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own plastic consumption and their artistic transformations of plastics. These artist statements will be displayed alongside their art in community public spaces.

Throughout this course students will work with adults when using power tools and attachment materials. This green journey allows students to come to terms with their environmental impact, knowledge of individual ways to make change, and how to use art as a form of advocacy.