Marie McEntee: The Container Art Project – Part 2

In Part 1 of the Container Art Project Marie McEntee shared her thoughts on a creative arts project she had co-led which had used graffiti/mural art to enable children to be environmental communicators. In Part 2, Marie reveals how the project’s learning process developed the children’s confidence and skills to engage with mural art. The conversation focuses on the authentic nature of the learning founded on strong relationships and a foundational view of the children as rich knowledge holders. It explores how fostering children’s environmental futures, epistemic confidence and worth can develop a sense of collective responsibility and enable children to be strong environmental communicators and champions by sharing their vision for a sustainable future. Marie discusses how the project provides understanding of how to rebalance power differentials to enable children to be vibrant and valued environmental communicators and the particular role that the creative arts can play in achieving change in dominant power structures. The discussion reveals how community-based creative arts projects employing genuine grassroots approaches can address epistemic injustices that marginalise children from environmental issues of importance to them.