Editor’s Letter
“Even though I have a certain engagement
with science, there are a lot of tools that
the artist has that the scientist doesn’t.
So I can use these tools—humor, irony,
metaphor—these are the bread and
butter of artists. What artists can really
add to a particular kind of struggle is
that we have this expanded tool bag.”
— Mark Dion
So far, my students haven’t complained about all
our bird-themed projects this year. We’ve explored
birdhouses, mixed-media birds, clay owls, other
birds in nests, penguin collages, and prints. This
all started when I received a grant to purchase
enough recycled birdhouses for all of my fifth-grade students. I purchased the bird house from
a considerate company called GreenBird (www.
greenbirdhouse.com), who makes their houses
from recycled paper. The birdhouses are intended
for actual use, but the questions they prompt for
exploring ecological issues may be their most
lasting value for my students.
There is a reason canaries were used in coal
mines; birds are often the most suscep-
tible of creatures to
environmental toxins
from fertilizers and
pesticides, and to
loss of habitat. For
all these reasons,
birds seemed like
an engaging focus
to approach the
theme of ecology;
the study of the way
that living organisms
interact with their environ-
ment. And it seems clear that
humans have most impacted
our environment, for better and
for worse.
I adapted some of GreenBird’s
Nancy with a tin can man at the Idaho
Art Education Association conference.
instructional materials as questions to guide
inquiry with my students: “What are some posi-
tive things humans do to the environment?”
“What are some negative things humans do to the
environment?” “How have artists depicted these
concerns?” and “What can you do to make the
world a better place for birds?”
One of the artists I featured in our study of
birds was Mark Dion, a contemporary artist
(guest speaker at the 2011 National Art Education
Association conference in Seattle, and featured in
the April 2011 issue of SchoolArts) whose work
investigates ideas of nature through ecological
issues. Birds appear in a number of Dion’s instal-
lations, known for their combination of natural
science collections with taxidermy animals and
found objects. Dion’s admiration of Alexander
Wilson and John James Audubon provided me
with additional ornithological artists to include
in our classroom inquiry.
Now I’m back to bird watching out my window, hopeful that you will use Mark Dion’s tools
of humor, irony, and metaphor and SchoolArts’
articles this month to explore ecological issues
with your students.
