An art teacher from Mitchells Plain is calling on schools to use art to create a cleaner environment.
Mark Jeneker, an award-winning art teacher currently stationed at Portland Primary School, recently completed an elephant sculpture with the help of learners from Grades 3 to 7.
“The learners picked up all the chips packets and other plastics from the school grounds and then filled all the 2l bottles with it,” says Jeneker. “This project first came to mind around two years ago, and then I left it for a year as we are always busy with other art projects. We started to collect again a few months ago and then we took it more seriously to finish it off.”
The sculpture is around 1,2 m high and 1,5 m long and is made with recycled plastic bottles and other waste and assembled with wires. For now, it will be displayed in the school garden. “This is a message that I would like to send to all schools to do the same and look after our environment. You can keep the earth clean and have fun at the same time, creating nice, recycled art pieces,” says Jeneker.
