NAHANT — At the Life-Saving Station Thursday, young artists welcomed community members to contribute to a collaborative large-scale, mixed-media painting about climate change and equality.
The elementary and middle school artists created the piece as part of a summer camp called “Exploration of Creativity.” The camp is the result of a partnership between Artist Ties Jan de Blij of Marblehead and RazHer Collaborative, a Boston marketing agency focused on uplifting women and marginalized communities. “Exploration of Creativity” summer campers all contributed to the mixed-media piece, which included a polluted city skyline and water system leading to two fish whose scales were replaced by international, anti-racist, and LGBTQ+ flags.
Jan de Blij, an abstract expressionist, believes art can connect people and bring awareness to significant issues. He’s also a fan of collective art creation, or when many people are invited to contribute to the same piece.
“People that support the cause put a small dot of paint or just a small scribble and sign the back, and with that, they still feel committed or connected to the initiative,” he said. “The problems nowadays — they are so big. You can’t solve them yourself. I’m looking for ways to connect people that are concerned about the same things.”
RazHer Co-Founder Kristen Standish said the camp was “very immersive.” She hosted the young artists for meals, sleepovers, and camp activities at her home in Nahant. Standish added that children came from as far as Boston and Gloucester to participate.
Jan de Blij led brainstorming, meditation, and art sessions each day during the two-week camp. He also led campers on an expedition to pick up cigarette buds, glass bottles, and plastic waste at Short Beach, which they included in their mixed-media painting. Jan de Blij said he imagines camp organizers will sell the piece and donate the profits to an ocean clean-up or other local cause.
“We’re pretty mindful of climate change because we see it before our eyes every day and the children are too,” RazHer Co-Founder Lisa Bell said. “This generation — they’re so mindful about equality, empowering women, and standing up for marginalized communities…. I feel like we hit the jackpot. They learned something and they got creative.”
Bell’s daughter, Sadie, painted the fish in the collaborative mixed-media painting. At age 12 she also created four paintings to raise awareness of other social issues during the camp. Her paintings’ themes include homophobia, body dysmorphia, smoking, and alcohol addiction.
“It’s all hard to deal with and I don’t like seeing people having to go through it,” Sadie said. “I want to raise awareness for it so maybe it can help people stop, or they could be inspired by it to try to help other people.”
Rachel Barber can be reached at [email protected].
