ARTivsim Program
"Santa Cruz Art Activists for a Living Ocean and Livable Planet" Program
This project came to fruition after finishing the Sea Walls Santa Cruz project last year, painting over 20 ocean conservation murals in 1 week, and wanting community members to know about it, especially kids and teenagers and to see these murals and get excited about ocean conservation, art, and activism.
This project is the brainchild of Rachel Kippen, Taylor Reinhold & Sadie Reinhold. Our mission was to create a multi-day student program about art, activism, and ocean conservation.
Multi-day Student Art Program
In October 2022, combined classes from Star Community School, an alternative education high school located in the Seabright neighborhood, traveled to downtown Santa Cruz for a first-of-its-kind field trip.
The high schoolers, led by teachers Marissa Kluzniak and Mike Powers, piloted a multi-day, immersive art and ecology education program called “Santa Cruz Art Activists for a Living Ocean and Livable Planet.” Upon arrival downtown, the students circled up and were introduced to muralist Taylor Reinhold, founder of Made Fresh Crew, alongside Co-Founder and art program administrator Sadie Reinhold.
Mural Tour in Downtown Santa Cruz
The group explored several murals, including larger-than-life depictions of sea lions, kelp forests, urchin barrens, whales, cold water corals, leopard sharks, eels, and sea goddesses, just to name a few. Issues like climate change, ocean acidification, sea level rise, plastic pollution, oil drilling, environmental justice, and overfishing emerged from the murals, many of which were identified by the teens themselves. Taylor Reinhold spoke about the process and style for each featured artist, the coordination effort to facilitate public artwork like blocking off roads and raising artists in lifts, gaining permissions to utilize empty walls on buildings, and convincing the community to give artists trust and creative leeway to express themselves.
“The Sea Walls project is a great way to connect our students to issues that affect them. Students were able to meet the artists and learn about the efforts and perseverance it takes to make something like that happen,” said Mike Powers, a teacher at Star with a background in earth sciences. “Additionally, the international nature of the project allows students to connect to the fact that these issues affect us all, while providing the opportunity to see which countries and cities are participants and why it's important to them,” said Powers.
Taylor Reinhold is no stranger to alternative education classrooms. “My first intern found me over 10 years ago at an alt-ed high school. After I spoke at a career day, he came up to me and asked if he could work for me. He was on a lift the next day painting a mural with me. We are still friends today, he just helped me with Open Studios,” said Reinhold.
Two Days of Climate Change & Art
Following the mural field trip, students spent two full classroom days learning about climate change, its impact on the ocean, and environmental justice issues. They also learned about the careers of all involved with a focus on art-making. Students drew individual, environmental themed postcards to share with students in Santa Cruz’s sister city in France, and painted two large ocean and climate themed canvases. "Most students who find their way into Alt Ed didn't fit into the traditional school setting, so providing opportunities for hands-on learning is essential for increasing student engagement and success,” said Marissa Kluzniak, a teacher at Star and a co-facilitator of the pilot.
“Bringing the artists into the classroom gave the opportunity for the students to learn things that couldn't be as easily presented on the field trip,'' Powers added. “This was helpful in building relationships with the artists as well. The culmination of our experience came in the form of a group mural painted by the artists, students, and staff. This was a great way for all of us to come together and bond, while exploring our creativity and care for the ocean and our earth.”
Kluzniak concluded, “My favorite part of this program was watching my students work together on the final day to create two amazing pieces of art." At the culmination of the week, students were recognized in a gratitude ceremony where they received individual certificates, as well as gift cards for the purchase of more art supplies at Palace Art Supply.
Expanding in the Future
“There’s still so much more work to be done; inspiring minds, advocating for our environment, and changing policy,” said Sadie Reinhold. “We look forward to expanding this program in 2023 with more students and more schools,” said Taylor Reinhold. “We hope that these murals can be incorporated into all the classrooms in the county.”
Thanks to the collective effort from Marissa Kluzniak and Mike Powers (from Star Community School), The City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Manager, Dr. Tiffany Wise-West, funded by a joint project of The Funders Network and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Partners for Places, and with the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County served as the local foundation sponsor.