Summer Plant Art Workshop Series
This summer, Freshkills Park is offering creative workshops about plants at the Greenbelt Nature Center. Using art as a platform, these workshops will engage participants in exploring the importance of native plants, as well as the relationships between native and invasive plants, in relation to the Freshkills Park project. The series will include two Pigment Workshops and two Plantable Paper Workshops.
Plantable Paper Workshops
Participants will create “plantable” recycled paper while learning about the importance of native plants. The paper is made by blending old newsprint and junk mail to create new paper pulp. Participants will add a native seed mix that will then be pressed into paper sheets. Once dried, the paper can be used for cards or letters, and later the paper can be planted to start growing the seeds embedded within. The workshop is open to all ages, but is recommended for children 5+.
Pigment Workshops
Participants will learn to make watercolor paints out of different parts of native and invasive plants. This workshop will begin with an introduction to native and invasive plants, with information about the specific plants that will be used to make the paint. All of the plants that will be used have been harvested within Freshkills Park. The workshop is open to all ages, but is recommended for children 5+.
Workshop Location:
Greenbelt Nature Center
700 Rockland Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10314
(map)
These workshops were made possible through funding from the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) and support from the Freshkills Park Alliance.
