World Oceans Day event success!
We would like to thank many children (plus a few adults!) that took part in our community art event ‘Oceans on Canvas’ on Sunday 10th June in Palmer Park, Reading, in association with World Oceans Day. Children from the community painted their favourite marine life onto two distinct 2 x 2.5-metre ocean-themed murals illustrating aquatic habitats and their inhabitants. We also provided educational information about how species interact with each other and their importance in the ecosystem.
Our main objectives for the event were to promote the oceans through art and to bring people together and learn some new skills while having fun. We managed to encourage people of all ages to join in and try something new, but we especially enjoyed engaging with the children, and were really pleased with the finished results. The weather held out and by the end of the event, over 100 children took part in painting some weird and wonderful sea animals onto the canvases.
One of the reasons we felt that our home town of Reading was an ideal venue to hold an ocean event was due to it being an inland town. We feel that communities in inland areas are generally less connected to the oceans, who understandably don’t always understand the significance of the ocean and the impact it can have on our lives. We therefore, wanted to reconnect them to this essential environment and bring the ocean to the people of Reading and communicate an important environmental message, while also having fun and learning some useful painting skills.
Throughout the event we managed to talk to parents and teachers of a few primary schools who would like us to put on a similar event at their local school and we are in the process of following up those leads. We also received some really positive feedback during the event, with many parents saying that the interactive element was a great way for kids to learn and take an interest in the environment. This is exactly what we set out to do, so we are thrilled that the event was so well received.
