DMP Wins12th Annual Wyland National Art Challenge

For the second time, Del Mar Pines School wins first place in the Wyland National Art Challenge. World-renowned environmental artist, conservationist and muralist Wyland invited schools across the United States to take part in the 12th annual Wyland National Art Challenge with the theme of conservation of our ocean, lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands. This year, Del Mar Pines School won first place in the mural category and five individual student entries by grade.

The Wyland National Art Challenge encourages thousands of students across the nation to think about the many conservation issues we face around the world and interpret them through art. Mrs. Robinson, DMP's amazing Visual Arts instructor inspired our students and helped them bring the large 4-foot by 8-foot mural to life. Each DMP student created a cardboard stencil of their favorite sea life (a plant or animal), one that they would not want to see become extinct. They used stencils to depict a world void of these creatures. Where life had disappeared. Our young artists also made stencils of raindrops. Without water life as we know it would not exist. Within the raindrops, and in the sky, the children wrote, in different languages: "Protect Our Waters, Conserve Water, Don't Let Them Disappear".

The Wyland National Art Challenge plays a critical role in helping students interpret their relationship to the natural world through art. And, in so doing, they come away with a greater understanding of their role as future caretakers of our water resources.