Victory Gardens for Diversity to launch at Terra Nova Rural Park
11 February 2020
Celebrate the launch of Victory Gardens for Diversity by joining the artists on Family Day, Monday, February 17 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Terra Nova Rural Park Red Barn, 2631 Westminster Highway.
Victory Gardens for Diversity: recipes for community-based ecological engagement is an artist residency project at Terra Nova Rural Park, led by interdisciplinary artist Lori Weidenhammer and a collective team of collaborating artists, gardeners, educators, herbalists and community-builders, including Lori A. Snyder, Lois Klassen, Jenn Pearson, Catherine Shapiro and Crystal Lee.
This year-long artist project is inspired by the historical WWII Victory Gardens movement and popular slogans such as: ‘grow your own, can your own’, ‘grow vitamins at your kitchen door’, ‘make-do and mend’ and ‘use it up, wear it out, make it do’.
Lori Weidenhammer will adopt her persona, Madame Beespeaker at the Family Day event and will lead participants on a nature walk and explore the trees in the park. Participants will be invited to make messages for the trees and use art materials to further explore some of the natural gifts that trees provide, such as seeds, pods, leaves and cones.
Hot tea will be provided. Everyone is welcome. Children under 12 years old must be accompanied by an adult. Please come dressed for the weather.
The artist collective will also be presenting a variety of public engagement events throughout the year including nature walks, citizen science activities, performance and rainbow arts with children from the Nature School, and textile-based artist workshops to create “biodiversity banners” incorporating printing, embroidery, drawing, cyanotypes and the production of natural dyes and pigments. There will also be tea parties and picnics with artist-led workshops including hands-on planting, seed-saving, salve-making, tincture-making and cooking activities.
This project is presented in partnership with the City’s Parks Programs and is part of the 2020 Engaging Artists in Community Program for Richmond Public Art. The program aims to support artists with socially-oriented practices and encourages the development of a wide variety of art forms for artists working within communities.
For more information about Victory Gardens for Diversity, to learn about the artists and for more upcoming events, visit www.victorygardensfordiversity.blogspot.com.