Our Stories

Ahead of his recent speaking engagement at your Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, explorer Ronan Donovan offered a simple challenge to students in Elyse Lucas’s Drawing & Painting II class at Appleton North High School: to use art to “explore their wild nature.” Inspired by this mantra and Donovan’s own research photography, Lucas encouraged her students to fully embrace the theme. When attendees arrived for Exploring Our Wild Nature: Wolves, Chimps & Gorillas with Photographer Ronan Donovan on November 11, they were greeted by the powerful result: a captivating display of the students’ finished artwork.

The artwork depicted the vastness of nature itself: some were colorful and specific, some were dark and abstract, all were true to the “rewilding” that Ronan had suggested. And for Lucas, she was just thrilled for the experience.

“I always look for opportunities to get my students’ artwork out into the community, because I’m just so proud of them and what they have to say,” she explained. “But to have this layered connection with science to be represented in their artwork, I really saw their eyes being opened. What an amazing opportunity.”

Student Emily Kocher agreed. “My favorite part was how every student took the challenge to mean something different, and to express their world in a special and unique way. This is just a different approach to making art, and I value it very much.”

But perhaps the greatest impact may have been on Ronan Donovan himself. “I connect with classrooms all the time, but not necessarily in this way,” he explained afterward. “And it’s powerful. It’s powerful to see the ways the students personally connect to nature, and their own nature, through their personal artwork. It’s an unforgettable experience for me.”

The Viewpoint Speaker Series at your Fox Cities Performing Arts Center blends captivating storytelling with trailblazing science and profound personal journeys, igniting the imaginations of all who attend. Learn more about the Viewpoint Speaker Series here.