drypoint etching; 10×8”
“Under the guidance of art teacher Jamie Schorsch, students explored the art of drypoint etching as a medium to communicate ideas about conservation and sustainability. Using the U.S. National Parks as inspiration, they researched environmental challenges facing specific parks and aligned their findings with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).”
“I chose Devil’s Tower because it has been one of my favorite national parks since I was younger. I also love the backstories, conspiracy theories, and native Americans’ stories of how Devil’s Tower came to be. Out of all the different stories I read about Devil’s Tower, the story from the Kiowa tribe was my favorite. The story starts with seven little girls playing far from their village. Bears eventually saw them and chased the little girls, the girls ran from the bears and jumped on a low rock. While the bears still followed; one girl prayed to the rock, “Rock, take pity on us, rock save us!” The rock, hearing this cry, grew up bringing them up higher and higher. The bears jumped and clawed at the rock while it kept rising till the girls were pushed into the sky, where they still are now, seven little stars together (The Pleiades).
I think that the two UN SDGs that relate to my national park the most are reduced inequality and life on land. Reduced inequality relates to my work because the land that Devil’s Tower is around was home and land owned by the native americans, and some of it still is. I think the native american culture should be more protected and respected. During certain times of the year, different native american tribes today get together and hold ceremonies by Devil’s Tower, but people at the park don’t always respect that. Life on land also relates to my project because Devil’s Tower should be a very protected monument. Since it is a park and open to the public alot, people don’t always respect the rules; many people litter, feed animals, take things, and even destroy some parts of the park. I expressed this in my artwork by choosing a picture that shows only the tower and trees showing the natural land.
While I created this project, I did lots of research on the park, the history of it, and the native americans. To many tribes, Devil’s Tower is a very sacred place, in their stories, they even talk about their religion and how the tower came to be. A few tribes that use the place as a sacred ground or that live nearby are Lakota, Cheyenne, Crow, Arapaho, Kiowa, and the Shoshone. I believe that Devil’s Tower should not be climbed on because it’s a sacred place for the native americans, so it doesn’t eventually wear down or break down slowly. Secondly, you can’t climb the tower in April or June; April is to protect nesting falcons, and June is to respect native American cultural values. Making the project itself was alot of fun, slowly scratching at the plastic was a long but satisfying process and the ink process was very messy but turned out to look well.”
ARTIST BIO: Sydney LEHMAN is a grade 9 student at OHHS.