NAHANT — Johnson Elementary School is about to welcome Artist in Residence Ties Jan de Blij for a new program starting Jan. 18. The Nahant Education Foundation (NEF) is funding the program to “inspire climate action,” according to a press release from NEF.
“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,” the press release said.
The students at Johnson Elementary School have been researching climate change since fall of 2021, Principal Kevin Andrews said.
“This program will be an incredible and unique opportunity to continue that programming,” said Andrews.
The students will visit the Peabody Essex Museum to see a climate change exhibition. Then, from Jan. 23 to 27, Jan de Blij will work with students to create an art display in the school.
The children will take what they have learned about climate change and climate action and brainstorm ideas of what the art should look like, Jan de Blij said.
“We would like to find what made the biggest impression on them, what their experiences were like at the exhibits, and what stuck with them,” he said. “Have a more in depth conversation. So, these ideas that you guys have and these impressions that you have, how do they relate to each other? Can we identify common themes?”
He said he will gather the ideas and use them as inspiration to sketch the walls. The children will then get to paint in his sketching, with the final result being a mural.
This is not the first time Jan de Blij has worked with the children of Nahant, he said. Last summer, he helped run an art summer camp with a marketing agency called RazHer Collaborative, where the children were able to contribute to an art piece through brainstorming and painting.
“I help them, I guide them, but the children make the art. So that was quite a success and the children loved it,” Jan de Blij said.
The program coming up at Johnson Elementary School is something Jan de Blij wanted to be involved with because he has a lot of passion for topics like climate change, he said.
“I believe that if I can play a role in somehow inspiring the children to take action to create a better world then that’s, for me as an artist, you know, the ultimate goal,” Jan de Blij said.
