Art, Ecology and Art Education: Locating Art Education in a Critical Place-based Pedagogy

Abstract

In contemporary life and education, the local is marginalized in favor of large-scale economies of consumption that are indifferent to ecological concerns. The consequences of neglecting local human and natural communities include a degraded habitat, loss of wilderness, alienation, rootlessness, and lack of connection to communities. Critical place-based pedagogy provides a robust framework for the theory and practice of art education that is concerned with ecological issues. This article locates art education within a critical pedagogy of place as a prelude to describing contemporary art and art education that is engaged with ecological issues.