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Dr. Alison Aune, professor of Art Education, University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) Chrissy Valento, art teacher Lincoln Park Middle School in Duluth, MN Aryn Bergsven, art teacher Harbor City International School in Duluth, MN Lisa Fitzpatrick, community climate activist and director of technology labs (UMD) Art Education class students: Deborah, Alec, Kat, Alyssa, Anabelle, Natalie, Taylor, Cassius, Laura, Julia, Lauren, Karli, Sid, Peyton, and Emm (UMD). Youth Participants: local high school and middle school students Kirsten Aune, textile artist Duluth, MN Inga-Lill Newkumet, art teacher Haganässkolan in Älmhult, Sweden |
The Process
The project began during the late spring of 2022. Professor Aune introduced the Cartography Project to two local art teachers, her university students, and a community climate activist. A schedule was made, and the project unfolded during a challenging, but rewarding, semester, as everyone was meeting in person for the first time in two years and we could welcome school groups to campus again. For three one-two hour sessions, school groups visited the Tweed Museum of Art, on the university campus, to explore the creative possibilities of experimental community art making in the museum’s new Maker’s Space.
Inspiration
Local climate activist Lisa Fitzpatrick was invited to participate in the university-community art workshops. As she stated, “We face an unprecedented number of challenges to our ecosystem, social system, and economic system from the warming climate.” She discussed her involvement with the Duluth Climate Mobilization, which is a part of the National Climate Mobilization team, that developed a vision, a process and set of tools for partners to use while they build a local response to this global challenge. She presented brought books, artifacts, read stories, and provided resources for further individual studies and she helped guide our discussions on the urgency to act.
Materials: Repurposed linen, embroidery thread, tapestry needles and pencils.
Procedure:
Ms. Fitzpatrick first trained the college students and professor Aune presented the arts-based research project, the Climate Square assignment, to the university students. Each university student needed to create an embroidered square to use as a sample to show the youth art clubs during the following weeks. When the school groups arrived on campus Ms. Fitzpatrick gave the groups informal presentations about the climate crisis and professor Aune and her art education students then reinforced the conceptual framework, project goals, and shared what they were working on in their own squares. This process encouraged dialogue and artistic discovery as a community of learners. Everyone was learning a new skill together. Many of the college students had never used a needle and thread before when they started their own square, but by the following week, they were demonstrating embroidery techniques they had just learned themselves. During the workshops complete freedom was given to explore the climate theme through textiles. Students discussed what eco citizenship meant to them and how this project was part of a larger and more developed international action research project. Both of the participating art teachers expanded the project in their own home classrooms. Unfortunately, the semester ended before all the squares were composed into a final form for the exhibition. It was not until the summer when Duluth textile artist Kirsten Aune and visiting Swedish art teacher Inga-Lill Newkumet helped complete the project. They combined the 36 squares into a celebration banner format. In this placement of squares on a thread, the individual climate squares took on communal message of climate justice, hope, and reverence for the planet.
Observation and Reflection
Most of the participants, college, high school, and middle school age students, had never sewn before, or had never threaded a needle. Because of this, and the time limit allocated for the project, the climate squares became an experimental, and community building, collaborative project. When the students, and instructors, were all sewing together, the art room became silent. Each person was focused on their handwork. Many of the students reported that they were relaxed and found this to be a calming experience in contrast to concerning theme of climate justice. They talked about their current awareness and actions with environmental sustainability. Many talked about their sense of place and how they felt connected to nature in northern Minnesota and their love of Lake Superior. In reflecting on the project, the textile squares embody, in a small way, an artistic-activist form of expression. Each piece joined together became a collective message for climate justice for all living things from northern Minnesota to the world!
Images and Themes: The Turtle, the Ojibwe symbol of Mother Earth, Earth designs, images of Nature, Bees-Pollinators, water, and plants.
Inspiration
Local climate activist Lisa Fitzpatrick was invited to participate in the university-community art workshops. As she stated, “We face an unprecedented number of challenges to our ecosystem, social system, and economic system from the warming climate.” She discussed her involvement with the Duluth Climate Mobilization, which is a part of the National Climate Mobilization team, that developed a vision, a process and set of tools for partners to use while they build a local response to this global challenge. She presented brought books, artifacts, read stories, and provided resources for further individual studies and she helped guide our discussions on the urgency to act.
Materials: Repurposed linen, embroidery thread, tapestry needles and pencils.
Procedure:
Ms. Fitzpatrick first trained the college students and professor Aune presented the arts-based research project, the Climate Square assignment, to the university students. Each university student needed to create an embroidered square to use as a sample to show the youth art clubs during the following weeks. When the school groups arrived on campus Ms. Fitzpatrick gave the groups informal presentations about the climate crisis and professor Aune and her art education students then reinforced the conceptual framework, project goals, and shared what they were working on in their own squares. This process encouraged dialogue and artistic discovery as a community of learners. Everyone was learning a new skill together. Many of the college students had never used a needle and thread before when they started their own square, but by the following week, they were demonstrating embroidery techniques they had just learned themselves. During the workshops complete freedom was given to explore the climate theme through textiles. Students discussed what eco citizenship meant to them and how this project was part of a larger and more developed international action research project. Both of the participating art teachers expanded the project in their own home classrooms. Unfortunately, the semester ended before all the squares were composed into a final form for the exhibition. It was not until the summer when Duluth textile artist Kirsten Aune and visiting Swedish art teacher Inga-Lill Newkumet helped complete the project. They combined the 36 squares into a celebration banner format. In this placement of squares on a thread, the individual climate squares took on communal message of climate justice, hope, and reverence for the planet.
Observation and Reflection
Most of the participants, college, high school, and middle school age students, had never sewn before, or had never threaded a needle. Because of this, and the time limit allocated for the project, the climate squares became an experimental, and community building, collaborative project. When the students, and instructors, were all sewing together, the art room became silent. Each person was focused on their handwork. Many of the students reported that they were relaxed and found this to be a calming experience in contrast to concerning theme of climate justice. They talked about their current awareness and actions with environmental sustainability. Many talked about their sense of place and how they felt connected to nature in northern Minnesota and their love of Lake Superior. In reflecting on the project, the textile squares embody, in a small way, an artistic-activist form of expression. Each piece joined together became a collective message for climate justice for all living things from northern Minnesota to the world!
Images and Themes: The Turtle, the Ojibwe symbol of Mother Earth, Earth designs, images of Nature, Bees-Pollinators, water, and plants.
Textile Cartographies with Chrissy Valento, and her students
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Chrissy Valento, middle school art teacher, and her middle school art club students (grades 6-8) visited Alison Aune and her class of art education students at the University of MN-Duluth art department on an after school field trip during April of 2022. We toured the Tweed Museum, and were then introduced to the idea of Textile Cartographies. We started learning how to embroider on recycled linen squares, and talked about ideas around climate change, maps, climate justice, telling stories, expressing ideas, talking about the eARTh, and learning from one another while we worked.
The following week, during another after school art club session, we reviewed the ideas around cartographies, and created new climate squares. This time, we recycled wool sweaters, and needle felted images of landscapes and ideas around being kind to the earth on each square. We loved being a part of this project, and hope it is ‘heard’ around the world! |
2024 Climat Squares
We still have snow but spring may be coming to Minnesota? I sent off our climate Squares to Elly in Canada...
Alison email, 01-04-2024
Alison email, 01-04-2024
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Professor Alison Aune
Alison Aune is a professor of art education at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She received her B.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1984, her M.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1987, and a Ph.D. from Ohio University Athens in 2000. She served as education coordinator at the Tweed Museum of Art from 1991 to 1999 before joining the UMD Department of Art and Design. Aune’s scholarly interests include museum-based teacher training, women artists in history, and Nordic art education. Aune has received numerous artist grants and awards including the Arrowhead Regional George Morrison Artist award, a Minnesota State Creative Artist Grant, Art Educators of Minnesota Higher Educator of the Year and a Fulbright Scholar and Teaching award to Sweden. Aune has published chapters, articles, and on-line instructional resources on art and museum-based learning for children and youth. She has exhibited her artwork in over 80 solo and group exhibitions in the U.S, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Norway, and Denmark and regularly presents guest lectures and art workshops internationally, nationally, and regionally. |
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