Educators experimented with earth pigments and reflected on how to link classroom and nature

A learning experience through play and experimentation was experienced by teachers and educators from the La Araucanía region. Most of the participants were part of Fundación Colorearte’s annual contest, A Party of Color , which invites educational communities to create a collective textile work inspired by native flora, under the slogan Flowers that dye my environment. Likewise, members of our Active Teaching program joined the event , who this year articulated reflections and educational experiences around the concept of resilience.

Natural Pigments workshop was held in the Sustenta Pucón space, which addressed the social and natural relevance that exists in nature, in terms of its ability to enhance creative processes. At the same time, educators were taught to create raw materials for drawing and painting together with Pigmenta Lab , through accessible elements such as stones, soil, leaves and common kitchen ingredients such as eggs or vinegar, as well as more ingredients. elaborated.

“We reflect on how drawing and painting with these elements creates the metaphor of fixing the ephemeral, along with articulating a space for experimentation and care in contact with disciplines such as science, chemistry, history, language and the arts,” said Manuela Méndez, learning director of our foundation.

The workshop was carried out together with our mediation coordinator, María Jesús Olivos. In this regard, he expressed that “it is interesting the possibility of approaching a place and knowing its particularity from its pigments, which, in this case, were made especially for the workshop using everyday binders and others that involve more processes.”

         As part of the contents of the activity, the links between art, science and sustainability were delved into, and a dialogue was generated about the colors present in the nature of the region, pigment production techniques and ways to incorporate these learnings in the school curriculum.

Colors as bridges of communication with nature

The pigments used for the workshop came from plants, soil and rocks collected in the surroundings of Villarrica and Pucón. In this regard, Claudia Seguel, territorial coordinator of Colorearte – an organization that celebrated two decades this year – pointed out that this was aligned with the local focus that they sought to give to the day. “It was a significant experience because it had a territorial emphasis, highlighting the connection with natural colors and materials that nature provides us.” Furthermore, he added that placing color from this perspective “is very valuable for teachers, since it allows them to return to what is essential” when coming into contact with materials that make up biodiversity.

Seguel also referred to the relevance of expanded artistic education, ensuring that, by working with teachers, the objective of impacting students is achieved at the same time, “providing tools and resources to educators so that, together with their students, they can find new and more significant ways of learning” in a co-constructed way and under the notion that they can be the protagonists of their learning and discovery of vocations and talents.

For her part, Natalia Venegas, from Pigmentalab, stated that it was a very nutritious experience to address the use of raw materials from the environment in order to create educational material and content to be used in the classrooms. He also explained that the workshop sought to put people in contact with these materials through practices that highlight play in the learning processes. “Activities like this help keep alive that curiosity that we felt in childhood brought to the present in adults and teachers,” he added, finally referring to color as a bridge of communication with nature.