The Light Factory Outreach Student Art Exchanges
Every year, The Light Factory joins students together from all walks of life. Whether across a state or an ocean, we engage students in dialogue about their daily life -what makes them different, but more often, what draws them together.
Earth Exchange, presented by Piedmont Natural Gas (2011-2012)
Connecting Students on the environment through photography and poetry
On exhibition: January 19 through May 13, 2012
Middleton McMillan Gallery
Opening reception: Thursday, Feb. 9 from 6 to 8pm
The Light Factory’s Earth Exchange is a Student Art Exchange, an ongoing series of programs that bring teens together to discuss important issues through the arts.
In fall 2011, The Light Factory began a collaborative photography and poetry project with students from Olympic, Hough and Garinger High Schools to build environmental awareness. Through guest lecturers and hands-on learning experiences, the students began to form their own opinions about what is happening to the world around them.
In November, the students came together for a powerful field trip where they tested water quality, saw a landfill, and toured a “green” building. An overnight stay at Camp Thunderbird gave students time to connect with each other and create photography and poetry in a natural setting. There they learned the importance of building safe fires and how to “Leave No Trace Behind” in natural environments. In the course of their field trip, the students learned about the concept of “farm to fork” restaurants and sustainable farming. There, the students ran into Mayor Anthony Foxx, to whom they voiced their concerns about the environment. Artist Daniel McCormick inspired the students with installations he made that will help rebuild fragile watershed.
The students' artwork is the result of a life-changing collaboration between students from different walks of life. The Light Factory strives to educate and empower students to embrace the power of image, to view the world around them through a different lens.
Earth Exchange is the latest project in The Light Factory’s on-going educational initiative to use the power of imagery to transcend language and cultural barriers. Previous programs brought students in Charlotte together with students in South Africa (around the issues of segregation and integration); with students in New Orleans around the issue of rebuilding lives after Katrina (entitled “Message in a Bottle: Reconstructing Lives”); and with students in China (designed to break down cultural stereotypes held by both Americans and Chinese about the other’s culture).
Earth Exchange project is inspired by the parent exhibition The Calm Before the Storm which will be on display in the Knight Gallery from January 23 through May 13, 2012. The Calm Before the Storm examines the relationship of man and the environment.
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Charlotte Nature Museum |
