Arts Meets Science
is the underlying theme for the current waterscape program that SOKS is offering. Artist Dawn Emerson (www.dawnemerson.ca)
alongside SOKS Program Coordinator, Jennifer French, worked with classes that have established long standing support for the
SOKS programs.
With funding from the City of Kelowna Community Art Program four classes visited riparian sites in the city of Kelowna and focused on close observation as an essential skill for good science. Once under the spell of these dynamic sites, the kids and the artist determined together what essential part of the ecosystem was significant to their understanding of the ecosystem and selected to sketch and then paint the finer details that interested them.
Once back in their classroom and after a morning of instruction and practice with watercolour tools, paints and techniques each child developed an art piece that was digitally transcribed onto a six by five foot banner framing and tiling around a painting done by the artist.
Understanding and appreciating the nature of the ecosystem and its components was enabled by the soks facilitator and local naturalists. The talent of artist Dawn Emerson and the experience of the trip and the site, inspired children to create dynamic and thoughtful illustrations of the waterscape for their class banner.
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