FERTILE GROUND
Fertile Ground:
From Sankofa to Blue Heron
Over 20 years ago, an Atlanta Public Schools arts educator with passion for conservation, commitment to youth development, and love for the arts rallied nature enthusiasts to save environmentally precious land from development. Today, those initial seven acres of Blue Heron Nature Preserve have expanded into thirty acres of woodlands, wetlands, creek areas, and meadows accessed by an earth-friendly Blueway Trail.
This February, the Blue Heron Nature Preserve is launching a trail-blazing initiative in collaboration with the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) and ZuCot Gallery called Fertile Ground: From Sankofa to Blue Heron.
Our team aims to inspire 80 APS district-wide art educators and a pool of 51,000 elementary, middle, and high school students with the knowledge and appreciation of:
- Lauded, yet largely unknown Black nature-inspired artists and their art of the past
- Black artists affiliated with ZuCot Gallery and their nature-inspired art of the present
- Blue Heron Nature Preserve as an oasis for student, emerging, and established artists
- Greenspaces in school communities as fertile ground to spark and develop landscape art
- Outdoor exploration reinforcing social-emotional learning in nature for mental and physical health
- Environmental awareness and stewardship
We invite nature lovers of all ages to enjoy this initiative.
Atlanta Public Schools, Blue Heron Nature Preserve, and ZuCot Gallery are excited to cultivate fertile ground for nature-inspired arts at the Preserve and across Atlanta.
Enjoy nature-inspired artwork with the Fertile Ground: From Sankofa to Blue Heron exhibition by ZuCot Gallery-affiliated artists in the Blue Heron Indoor Art Gallery during these free public events:
Friday, February 11th
Exhibition Opening
6 – 9 pm
(Snow date February 18th)
Saturday, February 26th
Open House
2 – 4 pm
Saturday, March 26th
Sponsored by Morgan Stanley
Artist Talk
2 – 4 pm
April 21st – May 23rd
APS Student Artwork Exhibition
Additional Open Houses: TBA
Historical Artists for Reference:
Special thanks to Northside Hospital, REI, Kaiser Permanente, YKK AP, Georgia Power Foundation, Zeist Foundation, and Sam Flax for their support of this groundbreaking initiative.
For more information about the Fertile Ground: From Sankofa to Blue Heron initiative and sponsorship opportunities, contact Melody Harclerode at 678-642-0680 or melodyh@bhnp.org
