ART/ACT:educate | art, ecology & education

The Intersection of Art, Ecology & Education

Welcome!

The Art/Act: Educate program was created in 2017 by artists and teachers who understood the importance of addressing climate change and environmental justice issues in the classroom. In partnership with the David Brower Center, they set out to build a bridge between high school students and teachers across the U.S., connecting them through the arts while exploring environmental themes—positioning youth as leaders and change makers. The Art/Act: Youth art show takes place annually at the Brower Center in Berkeley, California, exhibiting the work of students from several Bay Area schools and educational programs. Student work explores themes like environmental justice, sustainability, plastic consumption, water access, and environmental equity. This website was created to showcase student work and provide free resources to educators who wish to continue the conversation in their own classrooms. There has never been a more crucial time to explore environmental issues with our students. We hope you use this website to build an environmental art curriculum in your classroom, inspiring your own students to be leaders and change makers!

Teacher Resources

Our Teacher Resource Library contains a database of environmental artists, research, lesson plans, and curatorial resources to help you incorporate ecology and art into your classroom.

Our Story

In 2017 Laurie Rich, then Executive Director of the Brower Center, attended the annual art exhibition for Kimberley D’Adamo’s Advanced Art Classes at Berkeley High School. Recognizing that many of the talented artists were addressing environmental issues, she approached Kimberley about the idea of a pop up show at the Brower Center to showcase youth voices. They both realized the potential of having youth artists represented in a professional gallery setting and decided to move forward with something a bit ‘outside’ of the Brower Center’s standard exhibition protocol.