At the Deep Creek School, we try to instill in students a basic understanding of environmental issues and help them to create strategies for developing an art vocabulary that is sensitive to, and ultimately becomes part of, the ecology of the area. In many respects, it is the landscape itself that catalyzes the program. Ecologically-based art provides a unique approach to problem solving for students. By encouraging them to take their cues directly from the landscape, attitudes of receptiveness and empathy are fostered. In some works, students develop a dialog with the natural environment that reveals a power or natural beauty that may otherwise go unnoticed. In other works, students adopt a more political stance that translates into visual or verbal critique--or in some cases, active intervention. The Deep Creek School asks students to take a pro-active stance with respect to their bodies, the tools the culture has developed,and the environment in which we live. We firmly believe that artists--andart as a discipline--can help to increase awareness of who we are collectively, and provide a context for understanding our shared responsibility to the planet.