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.
In February, the Blue Heron Nature Preserve launched a trail-blazing initiative in collaboration with the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) and ZuCot Gallery called Fertile Ground: From Sankofa to Blue Heron.
We inspired 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 invited nature lovers of all ages to enjoy this initiative.
Atlanta Public Schools, Blue Heron Nature Preserve and ZuCot Gallery cultivated fertile ground for nature-inspired arts at the Preserve and across Atlanta.
The Fertile Ground: Atlanta Public Schools Student Art Contest drew 130 submissions from 10 APS elementary, middle, and high schools. ZuCot Gallery selected the 19 winning artworks displayed in the Blue Heron Indoor Art Gallery. With the enthusiastic reception from APS students, families, and educators for the Fertile Ground initiative, Atlanta and Blue Heron Nature Preserve has proven to be fertile ground for nature-inspired art enriched by the experiences of local youth.
First Place
Second Place
Third Place
Honorable Mentions
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.
