TOLEDO, Ohio — When you think of an art school you probably think of paintings, sculptures and even ceramics. You likely don't think of pollinator gardens.
Toledo School for the Arts is collaborating with the Toledo Zoo to integrate science and art education.
Sculptures made by students located in the spaces in the TSA parking will soon become home to native prairies. The school is working with the Zoo to plant living labs which will be filled with pollinators, like milkweed, goldenrod and coneflower.
"Prairies are great for eliminating runoff but also taking up all those nutrients and sequestering carbon dioxide," said Dr. Ryan Walsh, director of plant conservation for the Zoo.
Walsh explained it's because native plants have roots that go as deep as twenty feet, where grass is only about a half to two inches deep.
As part of the Wild Toledo and Project Prairie programs, the Zoo works with the community to plant these native prairies.
Pamela Haywood teaches Biology and Earth and Environmental Science at TSA. She says students, who learn more than just art, have a lot to gain from this partnership.
"Basically, having that outdoor environment like with the plants around the parking lot will do is give us an outdoor space," Haywood said. "Because we're an urban school, we're downtown, we don't have a lot of outdoor footprint that allows us to take the students out do different levels of lesson planning, because we do have 6 though 12 in our building."
The hands-on education will go back into the classroom where students continue to hone their crafts.
"A lot of art classes integrate information about pollinators into what they're doing. Murals, sculpture, all kinds of stuff," Haywood said.
It all benefits the environment as these native prairies do more than just eliminate runoff and capture CO2. They also provide a home to pollinators like butterflies and bees, which Walsh says are declining rapidly.
"We have this at over 60 schools now and some of the feedback we've gotten, some of these kids have never seen a butterfly, so they get to go out and actually immerse in this," Walsh said. "I'm a biologist by training, so it's great to get kids involved in all of that."
The Toledo Zoo plans to start planting at TSA in winter 2024. It will then take around three years to establish the prairie.
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