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- This event has passed.
Nature’s Witness at Virginia MOCA (Virginia Beach)
July 19, 2025 - August 31, 2025
Nature’s Witness is a two-year collaboration between Virginia MOCA and Virginia Beach City Public Schools that connects art and environmental education. In the first year, students explored local ecosystems, documenting their observations in handmade nature journals. In the second year, they worked with a teaching artist to transform their discoveries into a collaborative outdoor sculpture for Virginia MOCA’s front lawn. This project empowers young voices to advocate for environmental stewardship through art, leaving a lasting impact on both the students and the community.
In 2023, Virginia MOCA embarked on a two-year collaboration with Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) students from Seatack Elementary An Achievable Dream Academy and the Environmental Studies Program. Their work was inspired by two Virginia MOCA exhibitions, Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld and Duke Riley: O’er the Wide and Plastic Sea.
In year one (2023–2024) students worked in handmade nature journals to document their observations of the local watershed and ecosystems. Their sketches and field notes were informed by visits to the Brock Environmental Center and its surrounding nature preserve as well as the urban setting of Virginia MOCA. These journals served as a foundation for understanding and appreciating their natural surroundings. In year two (2024–2025) students transformed their observations and knowledge into a collaborative outdoor sculpture for the Museum’s front lawn, guided by Teaching Artist Jasmine Brown.
Their completed sculpture, Change How We Sea Life, demonstrates the power of interdisciplinary learning and creativity, encouraging both the students and visitors to be curious, informed, and engaged citizens of our natural world. It presents an urgent call from today’s youth to bear witness to and protect our natural environment. These young artists have crafted more than a sculpture—they have created a legacy of care for the environment and a vision for a sustainable future. Learn more about this project by visiting our auditorium to see a short film, produced in collaboration with Jeremy Bates Film.
February 7, 2025-August 31, 2025
Virginia MOCA is open Wednesday – Sunday from 10am-4pm.