Wild Art – RuckusRoots

Wild Art connects Los Angeles youth to nature in their own community

13043786_1177254312284851_8776867565927374009_n — The first Wild Art sculpture installed at the LA Zoo in 2016 with middle school students from Highland Park, Los Angeles

By combining visual arts skills with sustainability and wildlife education, youth create a platform to creatively express themselves, connect to nature in LA and to take ownership of and pride in their community. We believe this introduction to wildlife and conservation issues is the first step in leading young people to engagement in and possibly beyond Los Angeles.

The students work with professional artist mentors to learn artistic skills (color theory, composition and still life drawing). They also receive education from a wildlife expert to teach them about the amazing biodiversity that exists right under their noses in Los Angeles. The students combine these lessons by creating their own wildlife-inspired artwork on a sustainable substrate – recycled aluminum or a canvas made of fused plastic bags. The templates we use are of threatened native species. Our recent mural at Eucalyptus Elementary diverted 4,000 plastic bags from landfill (image below)!