Land art - leaves swirl by Joan Green
Community art piece made with youth at Algalita International Plastic Ocean Pollution Solutions conference. Facilitated by Joan Green.
Land art - sand swirls made by Joan Green
“The process of art making connects people to themselves in a very deep and intimate way. When we slow down and connect with our heart through art making, we become more aware of ourselves and our reason for being. When a person has that kind of awareness, this connection to everything on our planet just ripples outward. We care more about ourselves and every living thing. So we take better care of our world.”
-Joan Green
Our founder, Joan Green, is an artist and a mother of three. She draws on her 15 years as an arts educator—inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to child development—to create our Art Subscription Boxes. Joan is passionate about connecting people to their creativity and the Earth through reusable materials. So she puts a lot of thought and energy into developing a quality product that minimizes waste and gives kids a fun, hands-on, creative experience.
The ideas for each box flow so freely, because she has so much experience creating art activities for children. She loves getting kids’ hands moving and creating. In the process they’re learning, problem solving, engineering, crafting, imagining, collaborating. Each art box holds so many possibilities.
And when families work together on an Art Subscription Box, it brings the whole family together for creative, quality time. Which is exactly what Joan loves to do.
She’s so good at it that she was named the 2018 Community Artist of the Year with Arts for Learning, for developing engaging art experiences for families with children of all ages.
And through her love of nature and her enthusiasm for reuse, Joan is an Affiliated Artist with the Climate Science Alliance, where she develops art activities with reusable materials for Climate Kids.
In 2016 she was an artist in residence at Cabrillo National Monument. In her art, she explored “the edge” of Cabrillo – which translates to this environmental edge that we are balancing on.
She is deeply concerned with the plastic ocean pollution problem, and is a volunteer expert mentor through Agalita’s International Youth Plastic Ocean Pollution Solutions Youth Summit. Through her art and teachings, Joan empowers children and their families to make more sustainable everyday choices to respect themselves and our planet.
Joan Green
Artist Statement
As an environmental artist who is passionate about zero waste, I speak through natural and reusable materials to express my deep connection to nature. My pieces are mostly three dimensional and reflect the process of being present while creating. They can be ephemeral, moving, conscious raising, performative and invite the viewer to become part of the experience. Through my art I’m asking people to question their actions and to understand how everything on our planet is connected.
Mixed media sculpture of Orca mother and calf with projection of human mother and child by Joan Green