At The Dales Countryside Museum, a powerful display now hangs as a lasting reminder of what happens when creativity meets climate consciousness. As part of the international art initiative The Herds—a project uniting communities around the world through creative responses to climate change—local artist Dove Armistead led an inspiring workshop with Year 4 and Year 6 students from Hawes Primary School.
Focusing on the pressing issue of bird migration disrupted by global warming, the workshop invited children to explore how environmental change is affecting familiar species such as swifts and swallows. Using collected waste and recycled materials, students channeled their knowledge and emotions into two deeply moving collaborative artworks.
Year 6 students created a patchwork quilt of denim patches, each square featuring a unique environmental message. The quilt, stitched together from reused materials, represented the pollution and destruction caused by litter in our waters—an artistic metaphor crafted with both skill and conviction.
Year 4 students turned their focus skyward. They crafted their own swifts and swallows, delicately decorated with recycled paper and suspended above the quilt, flying over the symbolic waters below. Together, the installations formed a dynamic, visual narrative of loss and hope—highlighting human impact on natural migration patterns and the urgent need for action.
Throughout the session, the students demonstrated not only creativity and enthusiasm, but also a profound understanding of the climate crisis. Many expressed concern that their generation would bear the brunt of inaction and voiced a strong desire for more awareness and urgent intervention.
What began as a local workshop became a resonant expression of global solidarity. The children’s contribution to The Herds project brought the message home: environmental responsibility isn’t just for the future—it’s for now.
Now on permanent display at The Dales Countryside Museum, the quilt and soaring birds invite visitors to reflect on climate change, community, and the power of young people to inspire change. The impact of the project goes beyond the walls of the museum—it lives in the voices, ideas, and creative energy of the next generation.
