Creating inspiration: The role of the arts in creating empathy for ecological restoration

Australia's natural areas, its deserts, rainforests and shores have long been a source of inspiration for artists. To convey on canvas or paper the spirit of the remote and unspoiled regions provides a special challenge, 'one which in many cases has awoken in Australian artists a deep sense of personal involvement, a feeling of great love and protectiveness for these as yet inviolate places' (McCullough 1980). Artistic response can be varied (Figs 1–6) and include every imaginable medium, and is particularly exemplified through the traditions of landscape painting and landscape photography. Contemporary Australian visual artists whose work relates to the natural environment include Mary Martin, William Robinson, Fiona Hall, Richard Woldendorp, Leo Meier, Brett Whiteley, Jeannie Baker, John Olsen, Dorothy Napangardi, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and many others (Crumlin 1991; Baxter & Gallasch 2000; Tunny 2000). Similarly, there is a whole genre of nature writing and poetry which could be broadly described as celebrating the natural environment (Pollak and Macnabb (2000).