Eye on Nature 2023
Waste
Eye on Nature Creative Arts
Saturday 23 September - Saturday 8 October, 2023
Teaching tamariki to love the environment through art!
Eye on Nature Creative Arts is the Beautification Trust's annual art competition for South and East Auckland kindergarten and primary school students.
Students are challenged to create art around the Eye on Nature 2023 theme, Waste, making use of sustainable materials and re-purposed waste.
The judges assess the artworks based on their interpretation of the theme, use of materials, the artist’s statement about their work, originality, innovation, construction and effort. The winning schools and kindergartens are awarded cash prizes and art supply vouchers, with a total prize pool worth $2,550!
All entries will be displayed in the professional exhibition space at the Auckland Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre during the October school holidays.
Enter the competition
Eye on Nature Creative Arts is open to South and East Auckland kindergartens and primary schools.
Home schooled students or students entering independently of their school are also welcome to enter.
There is no cost to enter. We believe all children should have access to environmental and sustainability education, so participation in this programme is free of charge.
Sat, 23 SeptAuckland Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre23 Sept, 8:30 am – 08 Oct, 4:30 pmAuckland Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre, 102 Hill Road, Manurewa, Auckland 2105, New Zealand
Waste
Every year we have a different theme. Our Eye on Nature theme for 2023 is Waste.
Hey there young environmentalists. Did you know the environment is the biggest and most important thing in our world? Like a big family, it connects all of us together. In Te Ao Māori, Ranginui and Papatūānuku are the originators of all life in land, sea, and air. Everything has co-existed in harmony for thousands of years. Through natural processes, nothing is ever wasted; only recycled to be used as something else.
Nowadays, there is a problem. Humans have been taking up too much space and using too many resources over the past few hundred years. Our harmonious way of living with nature has shifted, and now the environment can no longer support itself. There isn't enough time for the earth to keep up with what is being taken, and pollution, litter, and waste are making it hard for our planet to thrive.
There is hope though because you can connect, get involved, and learn about waste in its many forms.
As you go through your Eye on Nature Creative Arts project, we encourage you to consider the positive impact that you can make now and for future generations.
We want you to think about everything waste!
Consider where your materials have come from, and where they might end up in the future. Think of creative ways to re-use and re-purpose things into your art piece, and most importantly, think of ways that you can live to actively restore and help Papatūānuku and Ranginui so that the environment can care for us in the future.
