The Children’s Art Exhibition of “Wake Up for Mother Nature” is organized by the University of Colombo’s Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (fogsl), the SPEARS Foundation and the Rotary Club of Colombo West has been held from 26th February to 2nd March 2019 at the JDA Perera Art Gallery 46 Horton Place, Colombo 7.
The Exhibition has been the result of a recently concluded island-wide art competition, and it’s about Sri Lanka’s young people expressing concerns about the environmental ills they face today. These concerns are vividly expressed by kids of all ages, from primary, middle and senior school grades.
The exhibition is conducted in preparation for the 18th Conference of Parties (CoP) to the UN’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to be held in Colombo in May-June 2019. Therefore, the themes of the paintings displayed at the exhibition are based on the global mandate of the UN and CITES to combat pollution and achieve their Sustainable Development Goals 14 (aquatic life) and 15 (terrestrial life).
In addition to displaying thought provoking paintings, the Exhibition offered several other interesting activities. There is an Art Corner where visitors could create nature art with the help of professionals. In the Kid’s Corner they could watch recently made videos of Sri Lankan children expressing their views about the environment they live in. In the Insect Corner they could learn to identify different species of Sri Lanka’s butterflies and dragonflies. The Bird Corner will help visitors to identify bird calls heard in their backyards. The Marine corner moves away from terrestrial and avian realm and deals with beach erosion and marine pollution resulting from the use of plastics.
Besides the learning experience offered by the Exhibition, visitors especially school teachers, could also browse and purchase books and posters on nature for their homes or classrooms. They could also participate in a silent auction of the paintings submitted for the competition or purchase raffle tickets to win attractive prizes. 
