Activism doesn’t always involve marching in the streets or signing a petition. At SUNY-ESF, speaking out can be as simple as picking up a paintbrush.

The student group Sketchy Stumpies is taking an artistic route to raise awareness for environmental issues. As part of the Earth Week celebration at SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University, the group will paint a mobile, Earth-themed mural on paper made by students in SUNY-ESF’s bioprocess engineering department. While the mural is still in its planning phases, its theme is “Talk Earthy To Me” and will incorporate images of soil profiles, animals and plants found in northeastern United States biomes.

The project demonstrates that art has power beyond the aesthetic realm. Emily Bartow, a co-president of Sketchy Stumpies, said art is useful as a tool for activism because visual representations help people reconsider their understanding of important concepts.

“Art is meant to grab your attention, meant to make you feel and to make you reflect on those feelings,” Bartow said.

If the planned mural helps students and other campus community members pay attention to our beautiful and increasingly threatened biosphere, artistic projects like this could spur more respectful and conscious treatment of the natural world. Sketchy Stumpies’ mural is special because it’s mobile. Since it’s painted on paper rather than on the surface of a building, it can be moved to different display locations throughout Earth Week. Bartow expects the mural to become an annual tradition, with a new iteration created each year for the festivities.

The mural will also be adaptable and respond to evolving environmental and political scenes. The ability to respond to shifts in environmental policy, especially under the Trump administration, is a major advantage. Future murals might focus on efforts to deal with climate change, the status of national parks or the practice of oil drilling off U.S. coasts — all of which have seen drastic changes since Trump took office.

Given the instability and growing concern for the fate of the environment both domestically and globally, it’s increasingly important for people to find ways to voice their opinions and facilitate critical thought. Not everyone has access to the economic, political or social power to speak out in support of environmental protection causes, so art may become an even more important medium for having messages heard.

And while the mural may be aesthetically pleasing, its real value lies in its potential to open students’ eyes to the importance of caring for the planet and its many life-supporting ecosystems.

If you’re wandering the SUNY-ESF campus during the upcoming Earth Week, be sure to keep an eye out for the Sketchy Stumpies mural. You’ll definitely appreciate its beauty, but the message beneath the paint may be even more powerful.

Maizy Ludden is a senior biology major. Her column appears biweekly. You can reach her at mtludden@syr.edu.

Published on March 27, 2018 at 10:00 pm