Young people painting green into their art

Young people painting green into their art

Music, poetry, dance, theatre. The arts have been a falling priority in modern society, or so it would appear. Though they make up a great part of our culture, people often put art aside and choose areas that provide easier paths to economic successes. This has been particularly true in formal, public education where arts funding has been cut dramatically and curriculum streamlined in favour of other subjects.

An art-supportive educator/administrator from Washington State, Dr. Terry Bergeson, says, “The Arts communicate and speak to us in ways that teach literacy and enhance our lives. We must continue to find a place for arts programs and partnerships not only for what it teaches students about art, but for what it teaches us all about the world we live in.”

Most of the public generally accepts the value of the arts as a contribution to culture. We therefore fund them through government contributions to various programs (and in the Untied States, through large philanthropic donations). This helps give a good start to those who provide these cultural benefits. Many give back to society with artistic presentations that don’t just tug our hearts and make us laugh, but raise important issues or provide social critiques.

Music has a history of raising social causes. Artists throughout the last century have been doing so through folk and other traditions and have sung about environmental problems since the 1960s. Youth have been on the forefront of this movement. Young people care about the state of the earth and the implications of what we are doing. This comes through when musicians like Sarah Harmer sing about the problems they see.

At the Hillside Festival in Guelph I got the chance to interview the Canadian singer-songwriter about her latest album and her ecological concerns. Growing up on the Niagara Escarpment near Burlington, Harmer weary about its degradation and started a local organization to preserve the sensitive land and work against a 200 acre mining proposal by Nelson Aggregates (owned by the multinational LaFarge company).

Lyrics in her song, Escarpment Blues, include: “if they blow a hole in the backbone, the one that runs across the muscles of the land, well we might get a load of stone for the road, but I don’t know how much longer we can stand.”

Local activists there have done good work, challenging government science and having the Ministry of Natural Resources reexamine the ecological functions and species of wetlands in the area, which have been upgraded to “provincially significant”. Harmer’s music helps popularize the issues.

“I’m trying to do my bit,” she remarked.

A friend and math student, Rob Blom and fellow traveller Ayden Sherrit hiked the whole Escarpment from the Bruce Peninsula to the Niagara Peninsula in hopes of raising funds for the protection of the Bruce Trail and raise awareness among in the public. Other friends and colleagues of mine are cycling from Vancouver to St. John’s to raise funds for the Lung Association (“Cycling for Clean Air”) and paddling the Yukon River (“Rafting for Memories”). Young people are combining social and health issues with their concerns over land, air and water.

The Yukon trip comes on the heals of a voyage down the Mackenzie, and a documentary produced by Geography student Brent Rogers documenting the experience. Another student from Windsor has shown me his documentary on that city’s “Green Corridor”, which creatively describes the project using claymation.

The artists, organizers and participants at Hillside thrived for community and environmental care by raising issues through song, and lessening the impact of the festival itself. The stage has a magnificent green roof and students were raising funds for new trails where the event was held. Vendors used reusable dishes, washed by volunteers. Former Hillside performer, Emm Gryner released a limited edition homemade album last fall called The Great Lakes. She promoted Lambton Wildlife Inc. in the album as well as donating a portion of her sales to the conservation group. The late Lambton naturalist and one of the founders of Hillside, Henry Kock was honoured there.

Young musicians from all genres are telling sounding alarm bells, from the local punk band talking about sustainable agriculture and veganism (one band in Sarnia is called Chemical Valley Mutants), to the established rockers dealing with fair trade and HIV/AIDS. Young people care, and it’s the responsibility of all of us to listen. And to support the arts.

To learn more about the Niagara Escarpment or donate to the Bruce Trail, visit Footsteps to Conservation, at www.footstepstoconservation.org. If you’re interested in any of the other aforementioned initiatives, please contact me.

Darcy Higgins is a native of Sarnia who is currently completing a degree in Environmental Studies. He can be reached by e-mail at darcyhiggins@gmail.com