Brody DeSilva serves as president for a group that looks at nature as a living canvas for painting.

DeSilva’s description applies to the Art Goes Green Club at Discovery Middle School. His group encourages the student body to recycle and other “green acts” to help the environment. “We also bring an artsy side to everything,” DeSilva said.

This year, ecological and artistic aspects combined when the Discovery Art Club and the Green Team merged. They integrated their efforts “to focus on using nature to create the aesthetic beauty of art. All the same principles and elements of design can be found in nature,” DeSilva said.

Recently, the club reclaimed and cleaned an unused spot on campus. Anna Bright, landscape designer with The Enchanted Forest, helped the club select plants “to accentuate our green area,” he said.

Bright “also helped us select the proper soil, pots and other necessary items. In addition, she gave us advice on where to position our plants to give them the greatest chance of growing to their utmost potential,” DeSilva said.

The club potted plants, drilled and hung decorations and placed a concrete table and benches. They bought Japanese maples and gardenias, pots and urns, dragonfly and sun art, a rain gauge, garden flag and “jiggle wings” decorations.

The Enchanted Forest donated 27 quart perennials, including sedum, iberis, verbena, gaura and byzantina, along with three-gallon perennials and two flats of annual flowers.

For Earth Day, the Art Goes Green Club plans to unveil their green space and give tours to the student body.

For the future, the club currently is discussing solutions for a more ‘green’ campus, especially recycling paper and plastic bottles and caps, DeSilva said.

Other Art Goes Green Club officers are vice president/secretary Sydney Bergstresser, treasurer Tina Tian and parliamentarian Kayla Carden.

Raquel Spiegel and Patricia Williams sponsor the 20-member club. Any Discovery student can join.