JenniferE, Artist at Artists In Schools

Jennifer Engbrecht

Details:

Craft, Dance, Indigenous arts, Inter-arts, Literary arts, Music, Theatre, Visual arts

Grade Level: k, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Language: english and french

Regions: Interlake, Westman, Central Plains, Eastman, Capital Region

Contact:

Phone Email Website

Biography

Jennifer Engbrecht is of settler and Red River Métis heritage (and a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation) living on Treaty 1 Territory. She has had an interest in the environment, and infusing nature and science into music classes for many years. Jennifer has had many years of experience in all seasons with engaging students with the land around them through music and the arts, as well as using the arts as inspiration for how to communicate to the hearts of others. Music and the arts have a way of sharing from deep within; a wonderful way to create rich learning to connecting with, and in turn, helping, our earth.
Jennifer has led sessions for nature and the arts for The Manitoba Nature Summit, the Take Me Outside Conference, Learning for a Sustainable Future, Fort Whyte Alive, Project Wet, and more. In 2024-2025 she worked with UNESCO students to create a nature soundscape for a "Climate Artivism" work that was presented at the Canadian Museum For Human Rights.

Media

Project Samples

Nature Soundscape of the School Yard

Students go outside to connect closely to the land around them through their senses, and will write about and draw their findings. Back inside the school, they will consider all that they have collected through their senses, which will be developed into a class soundscape that represents their time outside. This creation can go in so many directions, with poetry, singing, movement etc that can be incorporated. They can perform their creation for themselves or other classes.

Percussion Ensemble of the Land

Students experience the land around them, of their school yard (for example). They use movement and sounds to echo what they hear, and collect these sound and visual samples for the creation. Back inside (or still outside if desired), students will create various percussion rhythms from what they saw and heard, which will be transformed into a percussion piece, as a representation of the school yard.

Nature Walk to Augment Choral/Band Learning

Students will go on a nature walk to a nearby natural space. They will discover various natural phenomena through impromptu natural moments, that will be developed into ways to connect to the choral/band music repertoire that is currently being studied. These natural connections are used to bring emotion and personal connection to the music. This would be a great activity for a choir or band who is already on a retreat in a natural space, and is looking to incorporate the land around them into the music they are working on.