桃瘾社区

A documentary written and directed by Visiting Professor of Education Hillary Van Dyke is getting attention on the local film festival circuit.

鈥淎 Splash of Color: Getting Black in the Water鈥� won the best documentary award at the Black Art and Film Festival in 2024 and the Dunedin International Film Festival in 2025.听

The film shows Black community leaders doing activities on and in the water, in hopes that the example might encourage others 鈥� and that the ripples of those experiences might affect a sense of environmental responsibility.

鈥淗opefully, seeing people that look like them being involved in things like scuba diving and swimming, might encourage them to think that they can also do the same,鈥� said Van Dyke.鈥�

Van Dyke herself is committed to setting such an example. She spends her free time introducing Black residents of the Tampa Bay area to watersports and nature like kayaking, paddleboarding and camping through a group called Get Black Outside.

Before the 1900s, Van Dyke said, Black people in Pinellas and Hillsborough County lived, worked and played in nature. However, that is not so much the case today due to historical inequities and systemic racism. Also, the lack of access to recreational water sources fostered a culture of people of color who do not swim causing low participation in water sports and aquatic areas.

In the film, Van Dyke attempts to reclaim the understanding and the connection Black people have with water, so they might want to protect it. The Blue-Green Action Platform funded by the National Science Foundation, known as Blue GAP, is committed to water preservation and recruited Van Dyke to create her documentary听

She said she was tasked with humanizing information about pollution in the film, so Van Dyke focuses on popular recreational areas, knowing people will be more invested in their preservation.

Kayaking in the massive spring-fed waters of New Hampshire鈥檚 Lake Winnipesaukee triggered her own love for the water, she said. She first kayaked there as a camp counselor, and it鈥檚 there that she learned that being near or in the water gives her peace and calms her spirit.鈥�

Van Dyke says her Haitian background is also a critical part of her connection with water since the ocean is an integral part of Haitian life and culture.鈥�

She plans to submit her work to more film festivals to raise awareness about the importance of water conservation and encourages others to host screenings and watch the documentary using the password BlueGAPalliance2024*.听听

鈥淚 can see that just watching it has inspired people to think about how they can be more connected to the water locally,鈥� said Van Dyke.鈥�

Van Dyke will be an assistant professor of education at 桃瘾社区ampa starting in the fall and is working on another film. This one is about the Tampa Bay Estuary Program鈥檚 conservation efforts.鈥�