Smithtown Science & Art Students Create Guerilla Marketing Style Visual Art to Promote Stormwater Outreach
Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim and Environmental Protection Director, David Barnes met with Smithtown West and East High School Students to help in the launch of a unique Stormwater Awareness Campaign. Smithtown HS East students in Timothy Needles Advanced Placement art class and Kimberly Williams’ marine science students at Smithtown High School West kicked off the collaboration with Local Artist and founder of Little Fish Reporting, Susan Buroker last week. Together, they have invented slogans and artwork based on intensive research, to best display on stormwater drains located on school property.
“We loved talking with these incredible young adults! This is the generation that will restore the world’s ecosystems and protect it from further harm… seeing creative artists and budding scientists work together in a truly one-of-a-kind program gives me great motivation and inspiration to keep pushing Smithtown forward in our mission to be a green and sustainable community.”
– Supervisor Ed Wehrheim
Local Artist and founder of Little Fish Reporting, Susan Buroker came up with the idea of painting artwork on stormwater drains in the town as a method of sparking conversation about protecting our natural resources, waterways and local ecosystem. Buroker came to the town over a year ago with the idea. She has done extensive work in preparation for the project, including approval from environmental agencies and working with environmentally friendly paint that will not leach into the ground over time. In addition to the stormwater artwork, the custom mural, painted by Tim Needles Art students, and the prototype sketches are slated to be on display at town hall this Spring.
Did You Know?
Guerilla marketing uses unconventional methods and tactics to spark conversation and keep the message going long after a person’s eyes have observed a concept. For example, Folgers Coffee once placed images of coffee cups over manholes in Manhattan. When people walked passed they would stop at the optical illusion of hot coffee steaming up from the road.