Collaborating for Biodiversity
Gallery of Artworks
United States Species Protected by the Endangered Species Act
Collaborating for Biodiversity is an Endangered Species Coalition K-12 youth art project celebrating wildlife, plants, and their ecosystems, in honor of the 20th Anniversary of Endangered Species Day, Friday, May 16th, 2025. These artworks depict species living or migrating within the United States and U.S. territories, or within the territorial waters of the U.S and are Endangered Species Act Listed, Candidate (Proposed for Listing), or Recovered.
Expand the tabs below the artworks to read artist statements and learn more about these species!
Thank You
to all of the youth artists and educators who submitted artworks, for your support and advocacy for wildlife and plants
Artwork by: Sophia (11th grade) and Griffin (12th grade), Sequoyah School, California
Ecosystem: All in California: Deserts near Joshua Tree, chaparral, poppy field, alpine area of the Sierra Nevadas, and the Channel Islands
Artist Statement: The Foxes Tale was designed for a building at our school called the Foxes Den, and features all four native California fox species in their natural habitats: the Channel Islands fox, Sierra Nevada red fox, native gray fox (chaparral), and San Joaquin kit fox (desert). We have a field studies program that is based out of this building, and these locations depicted are also places our school often visits. Through this mural we wanted to celebrate the diverse flora and fauna of our state and engage critically with how humans are impacting life on this planet.
For More information about the project, visit the site: https://sites.google.com/sequoyahschool.org/foxesdenmural
Media: Mural
Artwork by: Kinsley, Karlee, Jozlyn, Cayliana, Fairen; 5th, 6th, and 8th grade students at Henry Elementary School, Tennessee
Ecosystem: Rivers
Artist Statement: We have always been fascinated with river and wetland environments. There are so many species of wildlife that live both in and around the water that work together to keep our environmental systems in balance. Every animal, large and small, both land and water dwelling must be protected from harm with every resource that we have available.
Media: Colored Pencils, Sharpie, Watercolor, and Crayons
Artists: Amy and Zhuoyue, 7th grade and 8th grade, First Fine Art Academy, Georgia
Artist Statement: My partner and I chose the Baker’s Larkspur because of its uniquely shaped blue-purple petals that stuck out from all other plant species we searched through. When we learned about the near extinction of this flower caused by road crews in California, we knew that we had to make this flower’s name known to the world. With this artwork, my partner and I hope to bring attention to preserving beautiful plants like the Baker’s Larkspur.
Media: watercolor and acrylic
Artwork by: Sabina, Evie, Fiona, and Nina, 5th grade students,Pacific Crest School, Washington
Ecosystem: Marine
Artist Statement: We made this artwork because the matriarch of J-Pod’s baby died and we wanted to raise awareness of the dire situation that southern resident orcas are in, and how few are left in the world.
Media: Cardboard, Watercolor, Acrylic, Watercolor Paper, Sharpie
Artwork by: Kaleah, 7th Grade, Madelyn, 6th Grade, Fox River Academy
Ecosystem: prairie/forest
Artist Statement: We thought it was cute and it is endangered and makes a big impact on the prairie. Human impacts are harming blackfooted ferret’s habitat by plowing up the prairies.
Media: colored pencils/marker
Artwork by: Peizi and Zilan, students in grades 7th and 8th at First Fine Art Academy, Georgia
Ecosystem: Aquatic
Artist Statement: We hope to protect all beings, the snail truly spoke to us for being small but magnificent. A leaflet shelters it, conveying security for all life.
Media: acrylic paint on wood
Artwork by: Salem and Thomas, 12th Grade students, Upland High School
Artist Statement: We chose to represent the Hawaiian Hoary Bat in our piece out of a long standing love for bats as a whole. We wanted to convey the beauty of Hawaiian Hoary Bats in their natural habitats in hopes to inspire others to take interest in bat conservation and to lessen the common misconception that bats are only a nuisance or in any way a “bad” animal.
Ecosystem: Hawaiian Islands
Media: Acrylic, Wood
Artwork by: Third grade students at Stillwater Elementary, Washington
Artist Statement: We raised salmon fry at our school and released them into our river. We hope that they return to spawn in 7 years. People need to take care of the river because the salmon are part of a web of biodiversity that connects our whole ecosystem, including plants, bugs, and orca whales.
Ecosystem: Streams and waterways supporting spawning fish
Media: Papier Maché, cardboard, tempera and acrylic paint
Artwork by: Eli, Rose, Liam, Olive, Lieff, and Quinn, grades 4th-8th, Montecito Academy, California
Media: Acrylic paint on recycled cardboard from boxes
Artist Statement: We chose recycled amazon cardboard boxes to paint on
Evie, Fiona, Nina; 5th grade students, Pacific Crest School, Washington
Ecosystem: Pacific Ocean
Artist Statement: We chose the sea otter because we find them interesting, cute, and intelligent. We wanted people to be aware that they are an endangered species even though they are commonly found in aquariums.
Media: Watercolor paints, watercolor paper, cardboard, glue
Artwork by: Richard, Grade 5 and Anderson, Grade 3
Ecosystem: Terrestrial, highlighting forest surrounding
Artist Statement: We picked Grey Wolf because of their beauty and powerful presence. We tried to show on the left side where people are not taking care of the earth and the wolf is sad and in danger. This is the mommy wolf. On the right side we did baby wolf living in a clean and happy earth.
Artwork by: Claire and Belle, 12th grade students, West Virginia
Artist Statement: The spiraling black pinesnake that’s curled around the edge of the painting and the girl, in the bed of flowers next to the snake, were both drawn using watercolors and colored pencils; in contrast, the Texas poppy-mallows were drawn with a different medium and art style with oil pastels. The combination of the three subjects show the harmonious coexistence of humans and these endangered species. However, beyond this glamorous visage, we often prefer to acknowledge the beautiful, flourishing aspect of nature and dismiss the urgent need to take action to protect the species’ existence.
Media: Colored Pencil, Watercolor, Oil Pastel, White Acrylic Paint
Artwork by: Catherine 9th and Dahong 12th grades, Limetree Art, Virginia
Ecosystem: Central California
Artist Statement: The San Joaquin kit fox is a very small subspecies of the kit fox most well known for its large ears and droopy tail. As one of the most endangered species in Central California, it has been on the Endangered Species List for over 50 years but has yet to see much improvement in population decline. The monochrome color scheme is meant to represent this bleak future of the San Joaquin kit fox: The impact of human activity on ecosystems is undeniably harmful, and we should make an effort to preserve our biodiversity—before it’s too late.
Media: Scratchboard
Artwork by: Angelina and Leila, 9th and 10th grades, Limetree Art, Virginia
Ecosystem: Plains/Prairies
Artist Statement: In the plains and prairies of the midwest, few creatures are as important as the black-footed ferret. From controlling the prarie dog population to taking advantage of their numerous burrows, these creatures have left an unmistakable mark on their habitat. While we have made conservation efforts for this precious species since the 1980’s, we must continue to raise awareness about its importance to completely erase the risk of extinction.
Media: Gouache, Colored Pencil
Artwork by: Aminata and Naomi, 9th and 4th grades, Southfield High School for the Arts and Technology & Stevenson Elementary, Michigan
Artist Statement: I chose the Kit Fox because people don’t think they are important. They are important because they are part of nature. If there are no more kit foxes then no one can enjoy their beauty in the wild only in pictures.
Media: Pencil, colored pencil, acrylic paint, paper, canvas
Artwork by: Students in grades 8th – 11th, as follow, at Amherst Middle School, New Hampshire
Grade 8: Caterina, Madilyn, Colton, Bentley, Sopha, Jayce, Ritvik, Charles, Robert, Joel, Rocco, Abigail, Jack, Jonah, Brynn, Ripkin, Emma, Eli, Truman, Brendan, Tyler, John;
Grade 7 : Sophia, Callie, Isabella, Clara, McKenzie, Mackenzie, Quinn, Selah
Grade 9: Madison
Grade 11: Megan
Ecosystem: Ocean
Artist Statement:
We chose the Green Sea Turtle for our artwork because we love sea turtles and are interested in the New England Aquarium’s rehabilitation program. While looking to create pieces about endangered species from New Hampshire, we were surprised to learn that sea turtles live in the waters of New England. We created a quilt wall hanging from plastic we collected in school. Our artwork aims to show how single-use snack wrappers and other plastics harm sea turtles and their homes, sometimes even hurting or killing them. We want everyone to know that New England has many different species and that small actions can really make a big difference.
Media: Recycled plastic, cloth and embroidery
Artwork by: Emily and Emma, 4th and 8th grades, First Fine Art, Georgia
Artist Statement: We chose to draw the Northern Sea Otter to raise awareness about this endangered species and the important role they play in marine ecosystems. Northern Sea Otters help keep oceans and forests clean, and they also help keep Sea Urchin populations under control. Without them, Sea Urchins would have the power to destroy kelp forests which provide food and shelter to many marine spices. Since Northern Sea Otters are sensitive to pollution such as oil spills, protecting them will also help keep our environment cleaner and prevent large environmental issues. Through this artwork, we hope to represent the urgency and importance of taking action to protect them.
Media: Acrylic paint
Artwork by: Skye (12th) and Jaedyn (4th) Southfield High School for the Arts & Technology, and & Stevenson Elementary, Michigan
Ecosystem: Arctic
Artist Statement (Jaedyn): I chose the polar bear because I love polar bears and I did not know it was endangered until I started researching endangered animals. I wanted to show the beautifulness of the bear. If people see them as beautiful maybe they won’t kill them. I want everyone to know it is endangered and try to bring about awareness.
Media: Pencil, colored pencil, acrylic paint, paper, canvas
Artwork by: Jaden, 11th Grade and Ayleen, 4th Grade, Limetree Art, Virginia
Media: White charcoal on black paper
Artist Statement: This artwork features the Canada Lynx, one of the four species left in the lynx classification.
The Canada Lynx is beautiful and unique, with its extremely long ear tufts and neck hairs, but is threatened due to its loss in habitat.
This work is intended to portray the Canada Lynx’s striking presence and to help raise awareness of their species being endangered.
Artwork by: Yinan, and Zhuoyue, 7th grade, Forsyth Middle School, Georgia
Artist Statement: lts shape is very special and its color is very bright, but it is almost extinct. So we want to depict it so that more people can see it, protect it, and cherish it.
Media: watercolor
Artwork by: Khloe and Joanna, 7th and 8th grades, Limetree Art School, Virginia
Artist Statement: The constant pollution occurring in our oceans are causing the habitants of the sea, such as the northern sea otter, endangerment. Many of these species suffer from oil leaks and plastic in the ocean. This art piece is meant to send an alert to everyone to take charge in helping our wildlife and their ecosystems stay clean.
Media: Paper quilling
Artwork by: Wilhelmina and Emma, 2nd and 4th grades
Ecosystem: Florida Everglades
Artist Statement: We chose key deer because we loved seeing them in the wild when visiting our grandparents in Florida. They are lovely creatures and we do not want them to go extinct.
Media: Watercolor, colored pencil, modge podge
Artwork by: Jayla (12th grade) & Jazee (5th Grade), Southfield High School for the Arts and Technology & Stevenson Elementary, Michigan
Artist Statement: (Jazee, Grade 5) I chose the red wolf because I think most people know of wolves. I did not think they would be endangered because it is a wolf.
Media: Pencil, colored pencil, acrylic paint, paper, canvas
Artwork by: Peggy, Crystal, and Boni, 8th and 9th grades, First Fine Art & Design Academy, Georgia
Ecosystem: Short grass prairie
Artist Statement: The utah prairie dog was added to the list of federally threatened species in 1973, after its population dropped to 3,000 individuals in the 1970s. Despite having spent half a century on the list, awareness of their status is limited, especially when compared to more iconic species such as sea turtles or pandas. We hope that our painting can bring light and attention to this often overlooked keystone species, whose existence is crucial to our ecosystem.
Media: Acrylic paint
Artwork by: Charlie and Aryan, 4th and 5th grades, First Fine Art, Georgia
Artist Statement: I am a big fan of wolves. We don’t see them on the east coast because of overhunting. I hope one day gray wolves and other wolves can roam in the wild again.
Media: Acrylic paint
Collaborating for Biodiversity – resource archive –
WORKSHOP RECORDINGS by:
Dr. Chellby Kilheffer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ecological Services
Kenia LaMarr, Artist and Community Activist
Li-Ting Hung, Artist and Arts Educator
Xavier Cortada, Ecoartist
WORKSHOP SLIDES
‘Pointing the Monarch Butterfly’ by Kenia LaMarr presentation slides her
‘Grizzly Bear Scratch Art Collage’ workshop slides, by Li-Ting Hung 2/18/2025
What is Biodiversity?
The Word Biodiversity combines:
Bio: ‘way of life’ or ‘life giving’ with Diversity: Variation in plant and animal life, especially as represented by the number of species *
*definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary
Biodiversity provides enormous benefits, from supporting human physical and mental health and protecting food security, to mitigating climate change and ensuring that a range of habitats for recreation and appreciation of the natural world are protected and respected. It’s never been more important for people and communities to collaborate to ensure that our shared future is biodiverse. Creative processes and making works of art can be impactful, meaningful opportunities for young people to learn about and represent biodiverse wildlife, plants, and places.
