Green Olympics Children’s Mural: Creative Approaches to Caring for China’s Environment

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Last month, in a creative new approach to China’s environmental protection efforts, U.S. artists joined Chinese students and teachers in a group mural design and painting project. The experience brought together 88 children from 11 schools in Beijing, Hangzhou, Hebei, and Shanghai to design, plan, and paint a mural on the “Spirit of the Green Olympics” at the Beijing campus of the China National Children’s Center. It was a joint effort of the Children’s Center (an initiative of the All-China Women’s Federation) and two California-based organizations, the 1990 Institute and Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center.

The project was conceived with a variety of ends in mind. “Not only did this mural project display excellent artistic abilities of children and artists,” Zhou Xiaoqiao with the All China Women’s Federation explained at the project’s closing ceremony. “It also promoted the exchange of Chinese and American societies and further stimulated children’s thinking and awareness of environmental protection in China.”

Portion of the mural celebrating the Beijing Olympics and showing the children's hope for the future.
Photo courtesy of Simon Lim

Ma Jiong, co-director of the 1990 Institute, agreed that like other environmental art projects in China, the mural engaged participants to think about their role in the welfare of the planet. “You are the future of China,” he told students at the closing events. “And your activities are going to determine the quality of life and our environment. Without your hard work, we won’t be able to solve environmental problems.”

The project also provided a platform for cross-cultural exchange between U.S. and Chinese participants. “When young people of two cultures meet and collaborate creatively in the universal language of art and environmental concerns, lasting bonds are formed that impact the future of individuals as well as nations,” explained William Lee, co-director of the 1990 Institute’s environmental arts project. Lee, a retired architect and environmental designer who describes himself as a “pragmatic idealist,” moved to the United States from China at the age of 14 to attend Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts. He said he applies the school’s motto of non sibi—“not for self”—to all that he does, and sees the mural project as part of a larger effort to use cross-cultural connections to tackle global problems. “China is still my mother,” he explains. “The U.S. is my father, and I want my parents to get along.”

Lee is particularly concerned about China’s rapid economic development and its implications for resource conflicts around the world. But, he believes, once people from different societies have “basic good feelings” toward one another, they can resolve anything through conversation. “That is why I am focusing on children and the environment,” he explained. “Young people’s friendships that form around a common concern for the environment can make a profound positive difference in the future of the planet and lead to a more sustainable and peaceful future world.”

Lee engaged the All-China Women’s Federation in the project because, he believes, “women tend to care about the environment, children, the future, and building relationships.” By using art as a vehicle to bridge the gap between languages and cultures, he explains, “you can establish good feelings toward the other, and you get beyond the differences and the intellectual barriers.” This is a unique approach to environmental education in China, which traditionally focuses solely on imparting facts or information. Lee believes that only when there is public pressure to solve environmental problems will the government devote the resources and research energy to do it.

Lee and other project organizers say the strength of the mural medium is that participants can teach and learn from one another through art, even if they do not share a written language. “Participants help each other see what they see, both fears and hopes,” he explains. “And together they find ways to preserve the beauty and diversity in nature ... and in human societies, yet allow them to improve themselves.” Yu Chuansheng, a coordinator for the project, also stresses the importance of art as a medium: “Sometimes images convey meaning better than words. Murals are open air, public, and engaging.”

Nearly 100 students from participating schools were asked to submit their own artistic interpretation of the “Green Olympic Spirit.” They submitted designs of urban buildings, athletes jumping through hoops, the cartoon Olympic mascots (known as the “Five Friendlies”), as well as images of pollution, traffic congestion, and human and animal suffering. The students then worked with U.S. muralist Susan Cervantes and her colleagues from Precita Eyes to work their drawings into a cohesive whole that could be placed on the wall.

At the closing ceremony, Cervantes expressed her wish that the project would have a ripple effect for muralism in the country. “This collaboration plants a seed, and that seed will grow and spread more seeds,” she said. “That is our hope. That you have enjoyed your experience and will do more projects like this and collaborate with more friends in the future to express your feelings through art.”

Students, too, expressed enthusiasm for the many levels of meaning depicted in the mural. “I was really excited about this project,” said 14-year-old Wang Jianwei of Beijing. “Painting murals is really cool—I’d never experienced it before. And the theme is really important. If we continue the way we are now, with the environment, then we are going to become a desert really soon. There won’t be any way to live. We already have so many problems. So we have to protect the environment.”

A panel of the mural depicts the darker side of China's environment, warning: "Don't let the Earth cry for our actions."
Photo courtesy of Simon Lim

Zhu Mingjia, a 13-year-old middle school student from Shanghai, described the experience as both challenging and rewarding. “Seeing these walls, full of color and meaning, gives us a sense of accomplishment,” she explained. “It was hard work and it required the collaboration of everyone. We had to adapt many different styles of drawing into one complete painting.” Zhu also stressed the lessons she and others have learned from the project. “This process has taught us the importance of working together to achieve things, and this is how we will achieve a clean environment and a green Olympics. Like we have done with this mural, the world will have to do together for the environment.”

Much of the mural portrays hopeful paintings of strong athletes and thriving urban scenes, but the children did not ignore the darker side of China’s environmental problems. Describing his idea behind a section themed, “Don’t Let the Earth Cry For Our Actions,” 14-year-old An Jiyu spoke passionately about the negative effect of humans on the environment. “There are so many environmental problems,” he said, looking at his finished panel and citing pollution, global warming, and species extinction as major concerns. “They say that the coasts will be flooded, the trees will all die, the farmers won’t be able to grow food. Who knows if this children’s center will even be here in a few years. These problems are so serious. Humanity is ruining it for everyone. That’s why I designed that section.” He pointed to mural images showing dirty water and fish and an eye tearing from smoke.

Despite Jiyu’s concerns about impending environmental disaster, he still finds hope. “Then on the right,” he continued, pointing to a brighter section of the mural panel, “you have kids in a class. They are studying about ecology and recycling. This is what we need to focus on now.” At 14, Jiyu seems to have developed an acute sense of his own obligations to the future. “Painting the mural was awesome,” he said. “You feel like you are really leaving your mark when you put your ideas on the wall. I’m going to bring my grandchildren here and show them what I did when I was young.” If more children across China have their say in protecting the nation’s environment, Jiyu and his peers may very well get his wish.

Lila Buckley is assistant executive director of the Global Environmental Institute, a Worldwatch Institute affiliate based in Beijing. Outside contributions to China Watch reflect the views of the author and are not necessarily the views of the Worldwatch Institute.