Ecological Literacy

ˈlidərəsē

Literacy is "the ability to read, write, speak, and listen."

In mainstream education, the first two, read and write, take precedence over speaking and listening; but for each of these components to work in unison, we must first learn how to pay attention.

Ecological literacy is an approach to observing, acknowledging, and communicating ideas and thoughts about the places we inhabit in a way that reaches beyond the limitation of words alone.

Burning on bracket fungus

Plein air water colour

Snow sculpture

Spoon carving

Exterior murals

Plein air charcoal

Ecological Literacy

Rather than seeking to imitate x, or represent y, ecological literacy, with its many interdisciplinary tangents, seeks to collaborate with places, materials, and histories that are born out of careful observation, material experimentation, and critical understanding.

Perhaps the first rule of everything we endeavor to do is to pay attention.

— Barry Lopez

Carved walking sticks

Creature illustration

Fire pit charcoal-making

Found sculpture

Sit-spot writing

Chromatic analysis

Anthotype photography

Botanical sculpture