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Sierra Foothill Charter School students use butterfly nets to gently catch, observe, and release riparian creatures at Stookey Preserve.
Source: Courtesy of Mariposa Arts Council
Kleimowungang doesn't need a studio to make art. As an educational artist for the Mariposa County Unified School District, River creates art among the butterflies and woodpeckers on the banks of Mariposa Creek and shares the magic of art in nature with her TK-6 students. It is a practice deeply rooted in the indigenous cultures along the Sierra Nevada foothills in the heart of the Gold Country, not far from Yosemite.
“Our cultural arts are deeply connected to our natural environment,” said River, a member of the northeastern Passamaquoddy and Mi’kmaq nations and an artist and storyteller whose work is rooted in the traditions of the Southern Sierra Miwuk. “If the environment is not healthy, culture and arts cannot actually be practiced.”
From weaving and quilting to pottery and murals, River draws on Indigenous traditions where art and nature have always been inextricably linked. The impulse to create comes from the beauty of the environment, golden rolling hillsides and green pastures.
“It’s one and the same,” River said. “I live and breathe this job. I didn't choose it. “They chose me.”
A collaboration between the Mariposa County Unified School District (MCUSD), the Mariposa Arts Council and the Sierra Foothills Conservancy, the mission of this arts and environmental education camp is to provide children with a connection to the natural landscape and a sense of how their lives are intertwined. Promoting watershed health through art and a deeper understanding of ecology. This is art education in Mother Nature, an infinite space where children's imagination can unfold to its fullest.
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“We focus on place-based education because we have a rich natural environment around us, and we want to make sure our students can take advantage of that,” said Cara Goger, Mariposa County Executive Director. Arts Council. “There are so many arts education opportunities that take advantage of Mariposa Creek’s natural ecosystem and cultural significance.”
In immersive art projects, cultural richness is combined with scientific practice. Students experience the richness of indigenous culture and the majesty of wildlife as they learn how to harvest native plants, such as elderberry, for food and medicine.
“I tell them to listen to their first teacher,” River said. “The Earth is our first teacher.” “What is the land telling you? What are the trees telling you? “What are the animals telling you?”
Nowadays' camps, which seamlessly integrate art, science and indigenous culture, engage children by engaging all their senses, teaching them on multiple levels simultaneously. That's one reason Lieber says the challenging classroom behaviors that have surged in the wake of the pandemic seem to be disappearing outdoors.
“Getting outside changes the kids a lot for the better,” River said. “Behavior changes. There's a real difference between sitting in a chair inside a building for eight hours and rolling around on the grass outside looking at nature, taking off your shoes and putting your feet in the dirt. “Kids need that.”
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A sense of place is key here. Mariposa Creek, a tributary of the West Branch of the Russian River, is a unifying theme, providing plants that are mixed together to make watercolor paints, willow tree trunks used in basket weaving, and clay used in pottery making. The stream is the star of the show and the source of the art and science that unfold.
While some may associate art with densely populated urban hubs, this arts education program celebrates the universality of the artistic impulse. You don’t need a busy downtown to find a thriving arts scene.
“We often think of art in the built environment, the “home” art we see in theaters and galleries,” said Letty Kraus, director of statewide arts initiatives for California county superintendents. “I appreciate the way this project fosters civic engagement and recognizes and connects the county’s assets, including the natural environment and knowledge and culture of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation.”
Continued restoration of the stream as a way to preserve the beauty of the foothills is also central to the project. Children will learn how to study water to remove invasive species and measure the health of ecosystems as part of fire mitigation efforts.
“It’s a simple idea,” River said. “I’m showing that water is life. “If you look into the water and you don’t see any life, if you don’t see any kind of microorganisms in it, not even little tadpoles or fish, then the water is not good.”
All of these ecological lessons build on the connections children already have with their environment. The creek appears as an art studio and laboratory rolled into one. Students sometimes take field trips to nearby Stookey Preserve and Wahhoga Village in Yosemite.
“The kids are already exploring the landscape by playing in the creek,” Goger said. “When you create a curriculum that focuses on what students are already familiar with, they bring their own knowledge and understanding to that. In the future, we hope to deepen our investment in that environment. “One of the things we’re really trying to do with parkway restoration is to instill ideas about land stewardship.”
Families have responded enthusiastically to the program, which began in 2022 and has so far been paid for with Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) funds but could be expanded through future Prop. 28 funds. Administrators hope to connect the camp with classroom learning and build a way to create after-school programs in the future.
“In all my years in education, I have never seen such an overwhelmingly positive parent survey. It was fantastic,” said Lydia Lower, MCUSD Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services. “Parents are seeing their children engaging in really healthy and productive activities. And they are learning not only from an academic perspective, but also from a living perspective. How does it feel to express yourself? What does it feel like to be part of a group? What does it feel like to work for the betterment of your community?”
The ambitious goal is part of elevating this arts camp into an experience that can fundamentally change the way children see the world. Certainly, the combination of sustainability and survival, and the ways in which humans and the environment either perish or thrive together, runs through every art class that Lieber teaches.
“All we have is a place,” River said. “I’m not continuing to go back to the indigenous perspective, but the house was never a building. That's why the tribes stay. Not just because it was a given reserved parcel. This is the land where the house is. We are teaching our children that if they take good care of this space, it will be here forever. “This could be your forever home.”