Each Art For the Sky program is filmed and artfully put to music with many surprises. A DVD of the film is given free to each school to sell back to parents if they choose. Click on the links below to watch one and get an idea about what hosting Art For the Sky is all about!!
Courting the Sky: An old 15 minute narrated film about Art For the Sky
Get Your Skysight On: Rousing 8-min music video about one of the Six Teachings. This gives a real feeling of what Art For the Sky is all about! I often share this video at school assemblies.
S c h o o l V i d e o s
2024
Once Upon a Sailboat: 6oo students and staff from an elementary school in Norwalk, CT form a sailboat sailing on a sea made of blue jeans with a sail made of sheets.
Eagle Love: Sequoia Academy in Westminster, CA celebrates their eagle mascot.
Once Upon a Lighthouse: 800 Crescent City, CA students and teachers from Crescent Elk Middle School and Joe Hamilton Elementary depict the St George Reef Lighthouse which lies 6 miles off their coast.
Rock the House: The Beech Hill Beacons, from Summerhill, SC, form a "lighthouse guitar" made of 1100 students and staff.
The Diversity Tree: 600 students and staff from Tramway Elementary, North Carolina create a tree made of many colors.
Mishe Mokwa: Mishe-Mokwa is the name of the bear that swam across Lake Michigan in the native legend of Sleeping Bear Dunes. At Lindemann Elementary School in Allen Park, Michigan, 700 students and staff formed the bear swimming through a lake made of blue jeans. Why did the bear chose to swim across the lake? She and her two cubs had to flee a forest fire on the other side, which can be see here in modern times, as a lesson about the climate crisis and all the forest fires that plague our world now because of it.
Return of the Condor. Two schools in Crescent City, CA combine to form a giant-living California condor image in celebration of the Yurok tribal effort to return this bird to the wild.
A Falcon Made of Colors: Foothill Country Day School in Claremont, CA celebrates their 70th anniversary with a colorful rendition of their mascot.
Once Upon a Penguin. 650 students and staff at Marina Middle School in San Francisco become a living painting of their mascot, a penguin.
Magic Trick: 750 students and staff from Eagle Elementary in Medford, NY form a rabbit coming out of a hat.
Once Upon a Husky. 500+ students and staff of Lloyd Road School in Monmouth County, New Jersey celebrate their husky mascot by creating a giant living painting of one in their field.
2023
The Banty From the Bayou: If you ever wondered why the chicken crossed the road watch this film! 450 students and staff from Bayou Blue Upper Elementary in southeast Louisiana formed the head of a giant banty (rooster). This was their fourth project in 4 years!
I Want a Doghouse: 450 students and staff from South Larose Elementary in Louisiana built a giant doghouse for their mascot . . . a bullpup.
Once Upon a Blue Jay: 500+ students and staff at Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Delaware form a beautiful blue jay, their mascot.
FALL: 500 students and staff from Bowman School in Lexington, MA form a colorful tree in celebration of fall.
Once Upon a Maple Leaf: The Mountain School at Windhall in Vermont celebrates fall with the creation of a beautiful maple leaf with 125 students and staff.
125: Hewlett-Woodmere School District in New York celebrates their 125th anniversary with 5 schools forming the number "125".
Once Upon a Polar Bear: 500 students and staff at North Greenville Elementary in Greenville, Wisconsin form a polar bear portrait.
B R E A C H!: 700 students and staff in Carpinteria, California form a breaching humpback whale.
Once Upon a Wolf: 300 students and teachers at Webster Elementary in Minneapolis, MN become pixels in a wolf portrait.
The Sky Griz: 350 Students and staff at Mortensen Elementary in Littleton, Colorado form a colorful grizzly bear portrait.
Jackrabbit Sky: 900 students and staff at Bishop Elementary in Bishop, California form a giant jackrabbit.
Rocket to the Stars: 700+ students and staff at Northridge Elementary in MOreno Valley, CA form a rocket ship.
Once Upon an Eagle: 600+ students and teachers from Edgemont Elementary in Morenoa Valley, CA form an artfull eagle.
2022
Once Upon a Bullpup: 500 students and teachers at South Larose Elementary in Louisiana form their mascot: a bulldog pup.
Frosty: 450 students and staff at Clinton Elementary School in Clinton, SC form an endangered frosted salamander.
Sammy the Shark: 550 students and staff at McKissick Academy for Science and Technology in Easely, SC form their mascot: Sammy the Shark.
FOX: 550 students and staff form a fox nestled in a heart at Dorothy Fox Elementary School in Camas, Washington.
The Gator of Bayou Blue: 550 students and staff from Bayou Blue Upper Elementary, in Bayou Blue, Louisiana form an aligator.
SHINE 300 students and staff at a Newport Beach, CA elementary school form a dolphin rising from a sea made of blue jeans.
Once Upon a Piping Plover: 500 students and staff from Tremont Elementary on New York's Long Island form an endangered piping plover.
Wings of Blue: 700 students and staff at Eagle Elementary in Medford, NY form an endangered karner blue butterfly.
Once Upon a Woodpecker: 350 students and staff at the Dunbar Hill School in Hamden, CT form a red-headed woodpecker.
Through a Tigers Eye: In this school’s third Art For the Sky project, 1000 students and staff at Moorestown Upper Elementary in Moorestown New Jersey get their skysight on and depict seeing through the eyes of a tiger.
Once Upon a Blue Crab: Undeterred by high winds, the 650 strong K-2 George J. Mitchell Elementary School in Little Egg Harbor, NJ formed a big blue crab on their field. Crabbing is big in this region and certainly this was the biggest one anyone has ever seen!
Becoming a Seal Crescent Elk Middle School in Crescent City, CA has done more aerial art projects than any school anywhere! The first one was a cougar in 2007. This sea lion is their 8th! It is celebration of their 90th anniversary.
Once Upon a Dolphin 300 students and staff at a Newport Beach, CA elementary school form a dolphin rising from a sea made of blue jeans.
2021
Blue Dog 500 students and staff from Baton Rouge Center for Visual and Performing Arts form a blue dog . . . tribute to Cajun artist George Rodrigue who popularized them. This was their second AFTS project.
United We Stand 500 students and staff at Bayou Blue Elementary in Houma, Louisiana celebrate Veteran’s Day with the creation of a stars and stripes eagle. This was their 2nd AFTS project.
Once Upon a Meadowlark: 550 Students and staff form a meadowlark in flight at Meadowlark Elementary School in Bozeman, Montana.
All My Favorite Colors: Bedford Park District in Illinois celebrates the power of color in this unique living pinwheel during their 2021 summer camp.
Once Upon a Seastar: For the Earth & Ocean Arts Festival at Cannon Beach in Oregon, hardy participants braved the rainy weather to form a beautiful seastar on the beach. This short film features the beauty of Cannon Beach and several area artists as well as the We Players from San Francisco.
2020
Once Upon A Whale: Newport Beach Elementary in California is the only school in the country literally ON the beach. 500 students and staff form the tail of a whale descending into a sea made of blue-jeans.
Z I A: 600+ students and teachers from Los Alamos Middel School in Los Alamos, NM form the sacred Zia symbol in their parking lot. To share image on Instragram see: #artforthesky or facebook.com/artforthesky
2019
The Dragon's Gift: 500 K-2 students and staff from Woodland Elementary School in Costa Mesa, CA form a Dragon bearing a special gift which is opened up for all to see!
Once Upon a Pennisula: 1250 Miami Springs high school students depict sea level rise in Florida.
Ukelele Bear: 650 students and staff at Bryant Art Academy Elementary School in Garden Grove, California create a bear playing a ukelele.
Once Upon a Tigershark: 750 students and staff form a tigershark at Tramway Elementary School in Sanford, North Carolina
Once Upon a Bobcat: In Houma, Louisiana the Bayou Blue Upper Elementary school celebrates their Bobcat mascot in a beautiful way
Once Upon a Cypress Tree: 450 students and staff from Airline Park Academy in Metairie, Louisiana form a magnificent cypress tree with a bald eagle flying overhead.
Once Upon a Butterfly: 500 students and staff from York Elementary school form their own unique "species" of butterfly in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Once Upon an Eagle: 500 kids and staff from Tokeneke Elementary School in Darien, CT for a beautiful head of a bald eagle.
Indigo Bunting: A few hundred students and staff from Woodlawn Elementary in Lawrence, Kansas . . . plus a few old and dear friends . . . form a beautiful Indigo Bunting. The number "415" appears in the branch which is the current parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. The save level is 350. The last time it was at "415" was 3 million years ago, the seas were 80 ft higher, no ice on the poles, and of course there were no humans on the planet.
W A R R I O R: 600+ students and staff of Maconaquah Elementary School in Miami County, Indiana form a spectacular Native American warrior just before the onset of a massive storm.
Husky: 500 students and staff from Harrison Street Elementary School form a beautiful Husky in Geneva, Illinois.
Rockfish: 650 students and staff at Eagle Elementary in Medford, NY form a Rockfish. Included in the fish are rocks which each student will selects and paints their own individual fish.
WE RISE: 550 students and teachers from Marshall W. Errickson School school in Freehold, New Jersey form a colorful hot air balloon with a powerful message.
Marmot: 300 students and teachers at Ross Montessori School in Carbondale, Colorado form a marmot poking his head up from his hole in the ground.
Return of the Buffalo: Celebrating the return of the buffalo to the Shoshone after being absent on their reservation for over 100 years. 700 native K-12 students and staff from Fort Washakie school form the design in honor one of North America's most magnificent creatures. The Wind River Indian Reservation has 4 times the bison habitat of Yellowstone and the goal is to build a herd of 1000 animals running free. This is the 3rd project with the tribe and it's always such an honor to spend time in this spectacular region!
The Yellow Bird Sings: 300 students and staff at Purdy Elementary School in Atkinson, Wisconsin form an endangered yellow throated warbler.
Becoming Eagle: 825 students and staff from Tawanka Elementary School in Feasterville, PA become the glorious head of a bald eagle complete with a sky made of blue jeans.
The Sky Fox: 525 students and staff from Dorothy Fox Elementary School in Camas, WA form a pretty fox out on their field.
A Bear Hug For Addie: 600 students and teachers dedicate their creation of a bear hugging the Earth to a first grader who tragically passed a few days before the project began.
Once Upon a Hawk: 450 K-8 students and staff at Haworth Public School in New Jersey form the head of an endangered goshawk.
2 0 1 8
The Sky Wolf: 850 students and teachers form a portrait of a wolf with a beautiful sky made of blue jeans. This is one of my fave projects to date!
The Sky Turtle: 1600+ kids from 3 Allen Park, Michigan form a painted turtle rising up from the bottom of a pond made of 1000 pairs of blue-jeans and poking its head out the surface of the water.
The Golden Hawk: 1500 students and staff from Miami Springs High School in Miami Springs, Florida form a gorgeous golden hawk.
Kingfisher Takes Flight: 450 students from Bishop Elementary & Middle School form a kingfisher taking flight. This image completes the intention set by the initial perched kingfisher done in Los Angeles in 2017. Both were in collaboration with Walking Water, a group of an international, inter-generational water protectors who walked from one of LA’s water sources . . . Mono Lake, 550 miles to Long Beach. The kingfisher is emblematic of healthy watersheds, a mission of both Walking Water and Art For the Sky.
Native Sky: On the Wind River Indian Reservation, summer school kids from Wyoming Indian Elementary, Middle and High Schools take the form of their beautiful logo which is symbolic of their history and power as a people.
N E V E R M O R E: Do it in ART FIRST! That's what I believe it takes to make big hard-to-change-things happen in reality. Transforming an AR-15 into a beating heart creates a "field" for a ban on assault weapons to actually happen. The idea arose after the Parkland shooting. By your sharing of this video can inspire young and old to get out and vote for candidates in favor of major gun control legislation!Thanks to the Hood River Mama Bears and all participants for helping on this project!
Tree of Change: 600 students and staff at Barbara Reid Public School in Stouffville, Ontario, Canada brave the cold and the snow to form a beautiful tree with fall colors. The number "412" is featured in the roots which is the current parts per million (ppm) of carbon in the atmosphere. Scientists have determined that the safe level is 350.
These Are the Daze: People gather at Pinckney Island in the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina for the refuge's first pollinator festival and form a giant monarch butterfly. This was a celebration of National Wildlife Refuge Week.
Dandelion Daze: Hill Field Elementary is a military school in Clearfield, Utah. The symbol of the military child is the dandelion and during "the week of the military child" 550 students and teachers formed a dandelion complete with making a wish and the dandelion seeds blowing off in the wind!
Bridge to the Future: To highlight their journey in the coming year from their old school to a brand new school, Eagle Valley Elementary School commemorates the occasion with the creation of a beautiful bridge.
The Flory Falcon: Flory Academy for Science and Technology in Moorpark, CA celebrated their 90 year anniversary by creating a giant falcon in their athletic field.
KALO Hana Pono: At 'Ele'ele Elementary School on the Hawai'ian island of Kauai, Art For the Sky returned to facilitate the creation of their sacred Kalo plant. This video is set to the very special music of "Hawai'i Aloha: Song Across Hawai'i" a project of Playing For Change. To Native Hawaiians, kalo is supreme in importance—it is defined in the Kumulipo, or Hawaiian Creation Chant, as the plant from which Hawaiians were formed. When the first voyagers arrived on the shores of the Hawaiian Islands nearly 1,500 years ago, kalo (taro) was one of the few sacred plants they carried with them.
PROJECTS WITH INDIGINEOUS PEOPLE
The Resurrection of Chief Washakie: In between blizzards and just down the road from Sacajawea's grave in Wyoming, 450 Fort Washakie Indian students and teachers collaborate with Art For the Sky in a magnificent rendition of their well loved ancestoral Shoshone chief who presided over their tribe for sixty years in the mid-eighteen hundreds. Spring, 2009
Native Sky: On the Wind River Indian Reservation, summer school kids from Wyoming Indian Elementary, Middle and High Schools take the form of their beautiful logo which is symbolic of their history and power as a people.
Return of the Buffalo: Celebrating the return of the buffalo to the Shoshone after being absent on their reservation for over 100 years. 700 native K-12 students and staff from Fort Washakie school form the design in honor one of North America's most magnificent creatures. The Wind River Indian Reservation has 4 times the bison habitat of Yellowstone and the goal is to build a herd of 1000 animals running free. This is the 3rd project with the tribe and it's always such an honor to spend time in this spectacular region!
The Sky Canoe: Collaborating with American Rivers and the Penobscot Indian Nation, the Art For the Sky film celebrates the restoration of the Penobscot River and the importance of the birchbark canoe. Fall, 2008
The Living Wampum Belt: To honor the 400th anniversary of the creation of the Two Row Wampum Belt, 2000 Pen Pals became purple and white beads to form a gigantic, 180-foot-long, living version of the belt at Stony Creek Battlefield Park in the Grand River Valley of Ontario, Canada. Pen Pals is a fast growing group of classrooms . . . First Nations and neighbors . . . whose young students write letters back and forth to create mutual understanding within their communities.
Bison Dreams: A giant living painting of a White Buffalo was the result of an Art For the Sky collaboration with five Salish-Kootenai Tribal schools in Montana in the fall of 2006. This film features the song, Bison Dreams and the photographs of Edward Curtis.
The Taos Eagle: Near the oldest continually occupied dwelling on North America, the Taos Pueblo, a sky art eagle was formed by the Taos Day School. The bird was built of composted soil, sheets, cottonwood leaves and the smiling bodies of students and staff. Fall, 2007
The Apache Star: All the schools of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe collaborated with Art For the Sky in the creation of a giant version of their beaded morning star design. Approximately 700 students and staff became living "beads" and together, with 8 tipi skins, created a wonderful symbol of the power of unity . . . comm-unity. Spring, 2007
The Art of Dam Removal: An exciting depiction of an entire school becoming "a river" as they enact the removal of an antiquated dam called "Condit" on the White Salmon River. The dam is scheduled to be removed in 2008. This was a project sponsored by the Umatilla Nation and Columbia River Keeper at Sunridge Middle School in Pendleton, Oregon. This film features Neil Young's song, Long May You Run, with new words by Daniel Dancer. Winter, 2007
A-MAZ-ing:
The Gila River Indian Community celebrates the recovery of their
water rights after having them stolen for almost 100 years. The
ancient symbol of "the man in the maze" is the centerpiece
of their moving, sky art celebration of water. This film features
the song, Tashawashunkatah which means "flow like the water" in
Lakota. Winter, 2006
Dream Bear Ceremony: A beautiful aerial art ceremony with the United Auburn Indian Community in California featuring Sequioia Raven Moon, a firedancer.
Videos 2009-2017
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