NAHS and Jacksonville Zoo W.I.L.D. Collaborate on Art and Conservation Project

National Art Honor Society recently participated in an art and conservation collaboration with the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens’ Wildlife, Inclusion and Leadership Development Program (W.I.L.D.). During a day-long collaborative learning experience shared between these two high school-aged groups, NAHS students taught W.I.L.D. students photography and printmaking techniques and W.I.L.D. students shared their knowledge of environmental conservation.

NAHS members created professional headshots of each of the W.I.L.D. students, teaching them different studio lighting techniques, from classic processes to light painting and multiple exposures. Then they taught them about the darkroom and the process of creating photograms. W.I.L.D. students taught NAHS about a variety of animals by showing biofacts—actual animal skulls and bones. A lesson on conservation ended with a printmaking experience, in which NAHS and W.I.L.D. students created compositions through layering different images and textures into a single piece. Read More>>

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens launched W.I.L.D. in 2016 to provide at-risk, local teens with a leadership and employment opportunity in the Zoo’s education department. The W.I.L.D. Program participants become employees of and community ambassadors for the Zoo, making them the face of the Zoo in their communities and the voice of their generation for the environment. The teens develop free programming that aims to increase accessibility to the Zoo and overall environmental literacy. The program focuses heavily on other important lessons to prepare the students for life after high school including responsibility, time management, public speaking and various other life skills. “We seek out opportunities to give the students experiences they may not have otherwise, and an exposure to the arts is something we’re hoping to do more of, so this is an ideal partnership” said Jamie Lynn Lankenau, the Community Engagement Supervisor at JZG.

NAHS will be visiting the W.I.L.D. students at the Zoo again in the Fall.