Everyone connects with the outdoors in different ways, from hiking to bird watching, biking, or even plein-air painting. Historically, one of our youth education programs, The Great Gorge Wahoo!, was centered around a long hike, which didn’t meet the interests of all our St. Andrew Nativity School students. When we reorganized the day's activities and schedule, our goal was to provide a variety of options, ensuring that every student had something to look forward to! This year’s program incorporated history, geology, wildlife watching, a raptor program and scavenger hunt at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum, and something brand new: art.
This year, we added a watercolor painting station at our Horsethief Lake stop during the field trip after students had the chance to see the pictographs at the park. Students were encouraged to paint either the scenery in front of them or something else that inspired them during the trip. We held a small competition, and our top two paintings won a Salt & Straw gift card, a wildlife plushie, and a frame for their paintings. The winners were chosen by Friends’ staff and our youth program donors Loring and Margaret Winthrop. This year’s winner is Larry, and second place is Nevaeh. See their paintings on the right.
We believe that incorporating a variety of subjects throughout the day, including art, will strengthen students’ connection to the Columbia Gorge and inspire them to protect the area’s scenic, cultural, and recreational resources. In our upcoming spring 2025 programs, we will bring back our smartphone photography station and add more artistic components to all our other youth programs, as we’ve seen how valuable art can be in helping students connect with nature.
The two winning paintings are shown here, from students Larry (top) and Nevaeh (bottom).