Find It Fund It Florida - Hillsborough Education Foundation

The Color Garden- The History of Color and Pigment in Nature

School:: Blake Senior High School
Category:: Science
Teacher/ Administrator:: Caitlin Clay
: 161177
Students Impacted:: 200
Grade Levels Impacted:: 9-12
Date:: September 8, 2023

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

Amgen Foundation - $1,997.42

Project Goal

The goal of this project is to create a hands-on and engaging visual arts space that fosters a classroom environment of critical thinking, responsibility, and discovery for the Blake Visual Arts students. The Art Department will work together to create a cross-curricular outdoor exploration space where students can explore how plants were used in art history and can be used in contemporary art processes. In the process of creating the garden, students will apply real-world skills learned in math and science to help construct the garden.

How Project Benefits Students

If funded, the project will involve the creation and maintenance of an outdoor color garden. The garden will benefit students in a myriad of ways, allowing them to apply what they are learning in the classroom in a hands-on setting. Students will be able to learn about textiles and color and then apply that knowledge by growing their own plants, then using them to create their own dyes, textiles and photographic materials. Students will also be able to spend time in the garden, using the plants as inspiration for their artworks. Students will be able to spend time outdoors reaping the mental health benefits that gardening and sunshine provide, while learning about their curriculum in a hands-on way.

Expected Outcome(s)

Students will have a greater understanding and appreciation of art history and the creation of art materials. Additionally, while the focus of the garden is on how the plants are used for artistic purposes, there will be cross-curricular applications as they learn about the science and math needed to successfully create a garden. They will understand how different plants look, smell, and taste, and the time and effort that it takes to grown and produce something, from seed, all the way to art supply.

Detailed Cost Summary

The items required to complete the color garden project sum to 1997.42. All materials and plants listed are to create between 1-2 garden spaces, shared and maintained by four Visual Arts classrooms.

Items

#	Item Description	Total Cost
1	rain barrel	$117.00
2	200 ft garden hose	$99.00
3	organic garden soil pallet (60 bags)	$699.00
4	2 raised garden beds (2 ft by 8 ft)	$249.98
5	steel raised garden bed 6ft by 3 ft	$69.99
6	raised bed soil (30 bags)	$239.10
7	4 bags white landscape gravel	$118.96
8	2 wire tomato towers	$29.96
9	200 ft hose hideaway	$99.00
10	4 peat pellet seed starting green houses	$49.88
11	back to the Roots multi seed pack (2)	$49.96
12	Earth Worm Casting plant food (4 bags)	$37.88
13	Sunflower Skyscraper	$12.48
14	Jiffy Seed starting Peat Pellets (36 count)	$5.47
15	82 gallon Enviro World Compost bin	$119.76
	Total:	$1,997.42

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