By Julia D'Orazio | Development & Communications Manager
Throughout February and March, Belize is vibrant with community-wide conservation themed activities to educate, inspire and provide a platform for dialogue around the pressing issue of protecting marine ecosystems and those who call it home, such as the Hicatee turtle, manatees, fish and coral reef systems.
Our field artists were on hand to assist partner NGO's with their community projects - including an illustration workshop, educational signage and interactive installations, an endangered species parade, conservation themed plays, and more.
Projects are still happening, but here are some highlights!
St. Peter Claver Primary School: Telling Stories Through Illustration
Field Artists: Min Lee and Annalisa Seavey
Field Artist Min Lee taught the students how to use a three panel storyboard format as a three-act storyline. The children applied what they learned to teach the importance of Hicatee turtle nesting site protection with their own illustrations. Annalisa Seavey guided the children in full body expressions of empathy for struggling turtles and thriving turtles.
Students not only gain understanding of an important conservation lesson - they also learned the basic concepts of set up, conflict and resolution to creatively tell a story, while connecting to wildlife with their entire beings.
WATCH: Students present their illustrated storyboard about protecting Hicatee nesting sites.
St Peter Claver School: Reef Guardian Project
Partner: TIDE
Marine Life Theater
By getting their bodies and minds active, students learned about of the four stages of the fish life cycle and created theater skits exploring best fishing and coral protection practices. After creating their props, costumes, and a short script, the students took turns performing for the class. Each performance served as a platform for discussion relating to the conservation message presented.
Coral Bleaching Reflection
Students wrote and drew reflections of their thoughts, questions and feelings relating to coral bleaching, the effect of pollution on coral, and healthy coral and fish - sharing their ideas and learning more about reef ecosystems.
Signage and interactive installations: SEA
Field Artists: Min Lee, Adriana Guzeman
In March, four talented artists and our partners at Southern Environmental Association (SEA), set out to create interactive educational conservation installations for the remote Laughing Bird and Silk Cayes of Belize.
For Laughing Caye, a manatee seesaw along with an Angelfish and Hawksbill turtle invite kids to play. In place of the dull and faded government signs, visitors will now also be greeted with an engaging welcome, a giant storybook, and signage that educations about conservation in a direct and vibrant way.
The much smaller Silk Caye boasts only one restroom as its sole structure - which is now transformed by a colorful mural featuring local fauna such as the nurse shark, hawksbill turtle, and barracuda along with a photo "cut-out" and an inviting welcome sign advising visitors to "take only photographs, leave only footprints."
After their intensive period of hands on training with our field artists, community groups, schools and organizations are successfully carrying out their own environmental projects - inspired by the the success they experience from their first arts-based campaign. All of this inspiration, creativity and learning traces back to you - our friends and supporters...thank you!
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