'Sustainable Art' is an artistic practice that inspires us to explore sustainability. We believe that art can play an important role in environmental education.

Schools, community groups and councils are an integral part of the societal web that contribute to creating the society of tomorrow. That is why sustainable art supports them in becoming places where new, creative and inspiring futures emerge.

Our starting point for environmental education is an artistic approach. It is different to an environmental education which includes aesthetic experiences. In 'Sustainable Art' art is not something that is added, it’s not a frill or an embellishment, instead it is the point of departure for finding ways of connecting with the environment.

'Sustainable Art’ uses artistic exploration to create fresh perception and pleasure. It engages the heart and the senses. Artistic activities enable students to develop sensitivity to the environment. In this kind of art-making students learn by doing. It is through their personal experience that students unearth and create their own mental images and transform these into tangible pictorial expressions. Such artistic activity hence requires and develops cognitive action.

If sustainability is primarily seen as something austere that restricts us (we need to reduce our water, electricity & meat consumption, we need to reduce pollution) change is not inviting. Most people aren’t motivated to use their heating or air-conditioning less to save the environment but rather because they want to save money. Sustainable Art seeks to develop more enticing ways to bring about change.

We imagine positive visions for the future: it’s about creating inspiring environments, objectives and lifestyles. We explore not only the beautiful but also the ugly and that often with humour. Nature exists but we humans also create nature. These creations can be beautiful and at the same time there are shadows that have us feel disgust, fear and agony.

Sustainable art is not art-making as a mere self-referential undertaking (“l’art pour l’art”). Students are encouraged to recognise and explore their own relationship with the surrounding environment, their senses are opened by these artistic practices. They then view the environment through art and they view art through the environment. In perceiving their environment through the heart and the senses students become receptive to perceiving the unknown, the tender, the wild and the unexpected. They then articulate this through their images perhaps also words and poetry. New and more unconventional artwork and conversations about the environment arise.

Through our Sustainable Art practice we explore:
• What is global climate change?
• How do melting places influence us?
• What happens in our own backyards?
• How do we create the environment?
• What is our carbon footprint?
• How can we green what we do?
• Seeing pollution as invisible dust.

We
• are artists, explorers and storytellers.
• seek new ways to understand and communicate about and change our world.
• view art as something that permeates and energises everything we do.
• creatively reimage how we can live and what we can do.