Civic Art Lab 2019 | Threads that Connect Us: Making and Unmaking with Mushrooms

Instructor: Nica Rabinowitz

With the ecological challenges our world is facing, now more than ever, mushrooms are a vital and relevant queendom to understand, cultivate, and forage. During this workshop we will partner with mushrooms to explore new ways of making and unmaking materials. We will discuss how artists, designers, and scientists have been working with mushrooms to heal our planet (including some of it own research). We will also get our hands dirty making mycopaper together using DIY papermaking techniques.

This workshop is part of Civic Art Lab 2019 is the 5th iteration of our art, design, science and sustainability lab, held in the gallery and workshop space Chinatown Soup between October 11th and 13th, 2019. This year's lab brings together artists, designers, and educators from Columbia University, Queens College, Pratt, Royal College of Art, Perez Architecture, and other independent design and fine art studios. Workshops, events, and exhibitions lead investigations into diverse themes such as: climate change and climate resilience, creative re-use, urban agriculture, sustainable architecture, environmental justice, and more. This year's theme considers creative collaboration in a circular economy, zero-waste practices, and the future of sustainability and resilience.

Civic Art Lab is open to everybody. Tickets are free. Small donations are encouraged and help to keep the lab running each year.

Civic Art Lab is hosted by GreenspaceNYC (www.greenspacenyc.org), a non-profit collaborative that develops and curates free educational programming, hands-on workshops, and public design projects that encourage dialogue, enliven public spaces, and promote the future of more equitable and sustainable cities.

Co-Directors & Founders / GREENSPACENYC + Civic Art Lab:
Laura Scherling, Jeff Kasper
Organizers: Dan Horn, Leonel Ponce
Sponsors: Chinatown Soup, Material for the Arts (NYC Office of Cultural Affairs), ORLI+

Questions? Contact Laura: laura@greenspacenyc.org