The Art of Nature at Collinwood Friends Garden
What:
The Collinwood Friends Garden, established 2011, is a green space in the city of Cleveland where community members are able to garden for free. There is a lot of maintence and educaton involved in reducing ones' carbon footprint. In 2017, they were able to pay students to learn, help out and even create public art while doing it thanks to a grant from the Cleveland Climate Action Fund. We hope to use our successes from last year as a jumping off point to an even bigger and better summer program for 2018.
Who:
Brittainy Quinn, Interdisciplinary Arts Program Coordinator at Cleveland School of the Arts and garden co-founder, will lead the program. Eight students from Cleveland School of the Arts will be paid to be apart of the program, and will mentor eight neighborhood youth. Ohio State University Extension will supply vegetable plants, seeds, and science education. Brittainy will provide art education.
*If you are interested in signing your student up to join, please contact brittainyquinn@gmail.com. Ages 8-13 welcome!*
Where:
The Collinwood Friends Garden is located at 257 East 156th street. Part of our funding will go towards securing and renovating a vacant store front across the street from the garden to provide a safe, sheltered classroom space.
When:
Students will start seeds afterschool with Brittainy in March and the summer program will begin Wednesday June 10th. We will meet every Wednesday from 10am-2pm until school resumes. They will continue to meet afterschool until the growing season ends.
Why:
The best way for kids to understand healthy living is to learn and practice first hand. It also provides an opportunity to learn science, work as a team, form bonds within the community, and reduce their carbon footprint. The garden lets kids be creative and know what it means to make a difference. Fixing up the storefront will give them a sense of ownership and vision that they can turn something empty and forgotten into something usable and positive. Besides earning money, high school students will also be eligible for Flex Credit for their transcripts. Lastly, students will create a series of paintings to be donated to Cleveland Metropolitan School District cafeterias, promoting healthy eating to younger students.
Why we're doing it....
We're doing this because it is the right thing to do.
Kids will have a fun place to go and learn, build community and earn money. Our little section of East 156th will continue to shine and breathe new life into the vacant storefront (one of many that trickle down East 156).
With your support, we will have the opportunity to teach kids that dinner can come from the earth for free instead of the corner store.
They will know how to coexist with our climate in a productive and positive way.
They will know how to revitalize blight.
They will know how to work together.
They will know how to express themselves through art.
They will know how to make positive decisions.
How will we do it?!
Only if we have your support! Please donate to the Art of Nature summer program by visiting www.IOBY.org/project/art-nature.
ioby has teamed up with the Cleveland Climate Action Fund and Resilient Cleveland to award dollar-for-dollar matching funds to community projects that prepare Cleveland neighborhoods for the impacts of climate change.
Every dollar raised for the project will be doubled and up to $5,000 in match funding. So give generously and join your neighbors in creating a more sustainable and resilient Cleveland!