25-Foot cascade of butterflies presented by S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities at EdVenture
March 24, 2017
A 25-foot mobile with more than 2,300 butterflies, presented by The S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, is now on display at EdVenture Children’s Museum in Columbia. Each butterfly is a work of art, hand-painted by fifth grade students from across South Carolina as a part of a community arts-integration project called the S.C. Butterfly Collaborative (SCBC).
Presented by the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities (SCGSAH) and directed by visual arts faculty member Elaine Quave, this project tied fifth grade science curriculum with artistic principles and exploration. In the fall, Quave visited 31 schools and two Boys and Girls Clubs to work directly with the students.
The SCBC exhibit represents the biological phenomenon of the North American Monarch Butterfly’s winter migration, when millions of butterflies migrate south in colonies to converge on the Oyamel fir trees in Mexico. They cluster together creating a unique spectacle as the mountain-top tree branches are completely covered and weighed down by their mass.
According to data presented by Monarch Watch, a non-profit educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas, Monarch populations have declined approximately 80 percent over the past two decades due to deforestation, a decline in food sources, herbicides and pesticides, and changing weather patterns.
“We hope to increase awareness of the plight of the monarch, while providing solutions we can all implement to help reverse these trends,” explained Quave. “These solutions include planting food source plants, such as milkweed and coneflowers, determining when the best times are for using herbicides or pesticides, and participating in Journey North to help monitor butterfly sightings.”
As part of the Governor’s School’s mission to serve as a resource for teachers and students in South Carolina, SCGSAH offers a comprehensive series of outreach programs, like the S.C. Butterfly Collaborative, designed to bring together artists, educators, community organizations, and students. These initiatives seek to match the school’s resources with the needs and interests of schools and partners statewide.
The S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, located in Greenville, S.C., first opened its doors as a residential, year-round institution in 1999 after offering a summer program for many years. This public, non-profit residential high school accepts artistically talented high school students of South Carolina studying creative writing, dance, drama, music, or visual arts. Auditions are held around the state each February for the residential school and summer programs.
There is no tuition for attendance; students pay only minimal processing and meal plan fees. An estimated 30% of residential students at SCGSAH benefit from scholarships that fund the meal plan fee, the only major cost required for the 9-month residential school year.
About S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities
Located in Greenville, the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities (SCGSAH) cultivates young artists from across the state through pre-professional training in the areas of creative writing, dance, drama, music and visual arts. As a public, residential high school, serving juniors and seniors, students refine their talents in a master-apprentice community while receiving a nationally recognized academic education. Summer programs are available to rising 7th-12th grade students, and SCGSAH serves as a resource to all teachers and students in South Carolina, offering comprehensive outreach programs designed to bring together artists, educators, community organizations and schools. www.scgsah.org
