The Earth is a pretty big place, so it brings things close to home to know that the artwork for this year’s official Earth Day poster was created in this corner North Bergen resident Doug DePice, who teaches art in Secaucus.
Earth Day, April 22, was founded in 1970 to promote grassroots pro-environmental action. Earth Day Networks (EDN) is an organization dedicated to promoting awareness of environmental issues. The 2004 poster will be used in 17 countries to promote the day’s activities.
DePice was chosen to create the poster when a former student, Tracy Pakulniewicz, found out that the organization was looking for a new poster. Pakulniewicz is the communications director for EDN.
“I’ve known Doug for a while, probably 18 years, and I know he’s an avid environmentalist,” said Pakulniewicz, who graduated from Secaucus High School in 1992. “He always quotes Martin Luther King and Gandhi, and is a big supporter of peace and civil rights, and I know his passion. Art is his passion.”
DePice was happy to tackle the project, which he named “One Earth, One People.”
“I came across outlines of the continents, and I’m kind of transfixed,” he said. “I’m saying to myself, ‘Gee, they’re really beautiful. They look like foliage, like something you’d see at the tops of trees.”
DePice used the continents of planet earth as the foliage of a tree. The tree is blue, representing water, which DePice feels demonstrates the interconnectedness of the Earth as a cohesive, living thing.
“A flash came into my mind, and I thought ‘Why don’t I connect all of these things with the trunk of a tree and its branches?’ ” Depice said. “I printed up the shapes of the continents on the computer and I began to diagram tree trunks, and I said, ‘Wow, this really looks good.’ ”
DePice said that the original vision came to him instantly, leaving the next few weeks to consider details for the final version.
“There were a lot of aesthetic decisions I had to make,” said DePice. “First of all, did I want the trunk to be in the center, or right or left? I had to consider symmetry as a design principle. Did I want it to be symmetrical or asymmetrical? Did I want it to have flat decorative colors, or did I want it to look more earthy and grainy, the way the Earth really is? I began experimenting with problems of balance and color.”
DePice settled on a design he describes as Arabesque, a style that highlights horizontal rather than vertical movement.
“It starts up at where Canada and Alaska are, and moves on own through to the lower right end to Australia,” said DePice. “There is an ‘S’-like rhythm that moves through the piece. It just felt right.”
The design became DePice’s vision of a symbol of portraying the earth as a living thing.
“It makes you realize we’re all part of the same life source,” Depice said. “Maybe people don’t see the earth as living, but when you see this thing, you’ll realize the symbolism because the color of the tree is not brown reds and purples; it’s bluish.”
A synergy years in the making
DePice and Pakulniewicz first became acquainted when she was a Secaucus High School student. DePice was her class advisor, and helped with their yearbook where she was editor. He suggested their theme, Rebels With a Cause.
“I’ve always admired his passion for teaching and giving and for always remaining true to the pure ideals of humanity,” said Pakulniewicz. “The way he is, he just looks at the good in everybody. He’s always trying to teach people and learn from people. He’s not judgmental, he’s very selfless.”
According to Pakulniewicz, EDN was founded on an ideal of activism and social change.
“Before Earth Day, rivers were on fire,” she said. “Literally, there was no EPA, there was no clean water act. There was no clean air act. There was nuclear testing going on. People were being exposed to ludicrous amounts of chemicals and toxins in the air.”
This year, Pakulniewicz said that EDN is refocusing on community activism.
“This year we have a new campaign, called Campaign for Communities, and the campaign brings the environmental movement back to the grass roots level,” she said. “Earth Day Networks is expanding the environmental movement to mean exactly what the word environment means, which is your surroundings. So when we talk about your surroundings, we’re not only talking about air pollution. We’re also talking about the health ramifications of the environment like asthma.”
DePice’s poster will appear in 17 of the 174 countries that celebrate Earth Day worldwide. The previous artist contributing poster artwork was the renowned Peter Max.
“Instead of going to a mainstream artist, we wanted someone who represented the communities,” said Pakulniewicz. “We thought we should bring an artist that’s representative of the communities that are grass roots level.”
DePice looks at the Earth Day artwork as some of his best work, as well.
“I feel like an Earth ambassador,” said DePice. “I’ve been an artist for 35 years of all the things I’ve created, this is up there with some of the best stuff I’ve ever done in terms of content, of how the image is communicating the meaning. Some artists are just image makers, but this image is poetic and inspirational at the same time. It really took on the feeling of a poetic form. It has meaning on lots of levels.”
Free copies of the poster are available at earthday.net, and Doug DePice can be reached at ddepice@yahoo.com.
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