Elementary
Have students explore
Vaughn Bell’s sculpture,
Land for Adoption with
the Cultivation Utility
Vehicle. Ask students to
describe the transaction
that is taking place. Ask,
“What is the artist doing?”
“What are the other people
in this picture doing?”
Students will deduce that
the artist pushes a vend-
ing cart around the city
of Seattle, offering small
pieces of “land” for adop-
tion. Each package is a
small sampling of earth
with a native plant grow-
ing in it. No payment is
required, but participants
must promise to take care
of the “land” by signing
adoption papers. Ask,
“How is the artist making a difference?”
Compare Land for Adoption to Alex’s Lemonade
Stand ( alexslemonade.org). Explain that at the age of four,
founder Alexandra Scott designed a way to raise money to
fight her childhood cancer. With students, compare and
contrast the two efforts, and examine how both of these
events were designed to make a difference and encourage
people to contribute to society.
Explore
Skip Schuckmann, Turkey Nest Kiva, 1998. Location: Linda and Andy Weintraub’s Rhinebeck, New York property. Photograph by Adam L.
Weintraub. ©Adam L. Weintraub, www.adam w.com.
Middle School
Discuss the many ways that
people rework the earth. Landscaping, farming, engineering,
construction, and waste management are valid examples.
Help students understand how
people develop respect for their
immediate surroundings by
dedicating their life and work to
the health of the planet.
Explore the featured artworks
by Skip Schuckmann and Lynne Hull. First examine
Schuckmann’s Turkey Nest Kiva, and pose the following
questions, “Why do you think that Schuckmann sculpts
homes and living spaces from the earth?” “Why would
someone describe Schuckmann’s work as living art?”
Next, consider Raptor Roost, by Lynne Hull. Ask,
“For what purpose does Hull sculpt the earth?” Con-
clude with a writing activity in which students create
tourist guides for visiting works by these two artists.
How would they describe the artworks? How might they
entice visitors to appreciate and understand what they
see?
High School
Hold a discussion in which students are able to make
connections between environmental issues and artworks
by Maya Lin. Discuss Silver River and have students
think about what this artwork represents. Ask, “Why
is it important that Lin installed a representation of
the Colorado River in a Las Vegas casino?” “Does Silver
River remind you of a commemorative artwork? In what
ways?”
View Listening Cone.
Explain that the video footage
projected inside the cone con-
tains text highlighting the
relationship between humans
and causes of extinction,
including direct harvesting,
non-sustainable hunting and
fishing practices, the intro-
duction of non-native species,
habitat destruction and global
climate change. Talk about
the featured endangered and extinct animal species
that are being selected and remembered. Also discuss
the habitats and ecosystems that are vital to these spe-
cies’ survival. Talk about measures that can be taken
to reduce harmful human impact on animals and their
environments. Browse websites that elaborate on ecologi-
cal abuse, such as Greenpeace International (greenpeace.
org) or the Sierra Club ( sierraclub.org), and brainstorm
imagery that is evoked from this theme.
“I had become familiar with this
thing called environmental art. I said
this is about something nurturing
the life force . . . It’s all about the
definition of environment. It’s the
‘I’ plus what you are looking at.
At some point the ‘I’ stops and the
environment begins.”
