Cyanotype Story eXchange: Youths' Community-Based Artistic and Scientific Exploration of the Natural World

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Three
  In Roundtable Session: Youth Perspectives and Identities Through Artistic Modalities (Table 8)

Abstract

Within this participatory, arts-based project, youth created and shared cyanotypes (a form of photography) with cross-country peers as a way to explore their local ecologies and share their hopes, desires and wonderings about the natural world. We investigated: 1) How, if at all, does the use of artistic (cyanotyping) and textual (letter-writing and drawing) community-based explorations support students’ scientific and aesthetic understanding of the natural world?, and 2) What aspects, if any, of collaborative exchanges among youth in different geographical regions support their scientific and artistic exploration of the natural world? Findings show that across the two exchanges, youth deeply observed their local ecologies. Additionally, they explored new artistic processes and environmental questions inspired by their pen pals’ creations.

Authors

• Vivek Vellanki, Indiana University
  Presenting Author

• Kathleen Schenkel, San Diego State University
  Presenting Author

• Maraliz Fischler-Barraza, San Diego State University
  Non-Presenting Author