public engagements exploring our relationship to land
with artist Brooke Toczylowski and guest collaborators
June – October, 2024
Westmoor Park Community Gardens (at the corner of Flagg and Mountain Rd)
West Hartford, Connecticut
re-remembering through storytelling & land acknowledgments
Saturday, September 7, 10am—12pm
Join Irene Norman and Paul Wegman from the Institute for American Indian Studies, as well as artist Brooke Toczylowski, for a collaborative session exploring indigenous and colonial relationships to land and plants. A light garden lunch will be served.
Irene Norman is Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction at the Institute for American Indian Studies. Influenced by both her North Carolina upbringing and Mohawk heritage, Irene brings a distinctive perspective to her work as an educator and storyteller. Irene also studied Political Science and American Indian and Indigenous Studies at UNC Chapel Hill where she worked at the university’s American Indian Center.
Paul Wegner is the Assistant Executive Director of the Institute for American Indian Studies. He’s been working in the field of archaeology for 20 years and at IAIS for 10 years, managing collections and curating exhibitions. When not knee deep in ceramics, Paul likes to spend time with his family, watch and write about film, and visit museums.
ecological belonging: what’s natural? what’s unnatural?
Saturday, September 21, 10-11:30am
Join biologist Adolfo Sánchez-Blanco (@dr.bioforever) and artist Brooke Toczylowski as they discuss what’s natural and unnatural in our environment. Using the garden as a living example, we will consider how humans have been vectors for invasive species and how we might cultivate regenerative food systems. This workshop includes a tour of the garden—exploring both weeds and cultivated species, a group discussion, and a hands-on work session where we will prepare part of the garden for a nitrogen-fixing cover crop. Garden snacks will be served.
Adolfo Sánchez-Blanco is an Associate Professor of Biology at Connecticut State – Capital. He was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University School of Medicine and worked as a Postdoctoral Scientist at the Spanish National Research Council in Salamanca, Spain, before starting his teaching career. He has a B.S. (Biology) and an M.S. (Ecology) from University of Salamanca, Spain, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science from the University of Connecticut. Adolfo is also a Biology influencer with more than half a million followers on TikTok (@dr.bioforever) and over 270K followers on Instagram (@dr.bio4ever). His social media creations have been featured by news outlets such as The Weather Channel, Newsweek, Daily Mail or WFSB Channel 3.
post-colonial mapping
Sunday, October 6, 2-4pm
How might we reconsider our position and relationship to land and place? Using natural inks made from the dye garden, participants will be guided through the artist’s conceptual mapping process. Maps, seen as objective reality, were a tool of colonialist expansion. Instead of the “taking of views,” as described by curator Risa Puleo, we will sit on the ground and listen. Using our senses, we will counteract our capitalist and colonialist culture and bring into relief the vibrancy of more-than-human perspectives. Participants will go home with one or more visual maps documenting their experience. Tea and snacks will be served.
putting the garden to bed
Sunday, October 27th, 2-4pm
How do we move through grief, take care of ourselves and others, and prepare for a season of dormancy? The garden teaches us about rest and regeneration. In this gathering, we will share stories and tend to the land and plants, getting them ready for winter. Tea and snacks will be served.
tending community
This event took place on Saturday, June 15th, 2024, 10am—12pm
Participants joined artist Brooke Toczylowski in the garden for an introduction to the who belongs? project. After a short talk and tour of the vegetable and dye allotments, we tended to the land by caring for the plants, then harvested greens and gathered for a community lunch and discussion.
fence raising/razing
This performance took place on Sunday, August 11, 8-9:30am
“People put up nets, fences, and railings to delineate and separate land, saying this is ‘mine’ and that is ‘not mine.’ But it is absurd to think that we can be owners of the earth. We form part of the earth and we are united with her—we are not her proprietors.” Delcy Morelos, Artist
This project received support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a federal agency