Earth... Pass it on: The Message is in the Materials

By Joye Redfield-Wilder, communications manager

'Sunlight' by Nicole Gallardo


John Storlie, Yakima Makerspace


Rod Hankinson and kinder kids

Art with an environmental twist - Davis and Eisenhower H.S. students in Yakima re-purposed materials like magazines, buttons, pop cans and took apart old jewelry and obsolete electronics and found items to make something new, personal and beautiful. Art is on display at Ecology's Yakima office, 15 W. Yakima Ave.

The vision was to combine environmental education and outreach with creation of student artwork based on environmental themes for Earth Day. Ecology staff and local partners provide inspiration, resources and education related to protecting the environment.

Students create personal works of art reusing, repurposing and recycling existing materials. In this show they used magazines, leather coats, old buttons, broken/old costume jewelry, recycled metals and materials they brought from home to create new jewelry, sculptures and flat art that are creative and low cost and turning trash into something beautiful.

The Art Show

• Eisenhower High School under teacher Katie Hall is presenting 18 pieces of sculptural and flat artwork based on the inspiration of regional Seattle Artist Marita Dingus, who uses recycled materials in her African inspired self-image works. Students thought about their impact on the environment and their culture and created self-portraits using the figure or head as the format.
• Davis High School under teacher Julie Geordias is presenting jewelry made of paper beads, which the students made from cutting up donated magazines, thus keeping the magazines out of the landfill. They also added glass or wooden beads for color. They made leather button bracelets repurposing old leather coats and old buttons. New jewelry pieces were created by taking apart old or broken jewelry and costume pieces and combining it with scrap metals and other materials.

"The projects showed the students they can be creative for very low cost and at the same time recycle," said teacher Julie Georgiades. "The projects are ones they can make at home without needing expensive tools, can teach to others and possibly even sell for cash! The button bracelets also taught students a life skill of how to use a needle and thread and sew on a button."

Earth Week Outreach

Yakima Makerspace’s John Storlie brought a trove of old outdated electronic devices for students to deconstruct and re-create as pieces of art and jewelry. The students had a lesson on the Steam Punk evolving from the late 1980s to the present, which incorporates obsolete mechanical and electronic forms into artwork and fashion.

Using a blender, water and trash basket paper, Rod “The Garbage Man” Hankinson made recycled paper and spoke about the lifecycle of paper and the importance of protecting the environment to five classes of kindergartners at Apple Valley Elementary School.

>> See the whole show at this Flickr set.

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