The culminating festival for the Garden of Fire was a tremendous success from every aspect.
“It takes a village,” as they say, and the program and festival could not have happened without all the amazing educators, artists, and community volunteers. We were delighted to have parents join us in celebrating their children’s accomplishments. The youths are the heart and joy of the program with their enthusiasm and eagerness to try new things.
The Garden of Fire: Summer of Water ironically took place during weeks of severe drought and heat in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. Each week of programs centered on topics including nature, growing cycles, healthy food, and art – highlighting the connection to water, importance of potable (drinkable) water, sounds & rhythms of water through music, reliance on water for life on Earth, and water pollution and conservation.
Suddenly, three days before the festival we were surprised with a series of thunderstorms and downpours. The much-needed water finally came! Naturally, we were a bit worried for the festival, BUT the morning of the celebration the dark clouds cleared and the sun shone bright and hot!
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Kids reveled in all the water-themed activities, live music, art displays and games which opened and closed with a special ceremony.
In closing, we thank everyone who contributed and we look forward to 2017!
Amy Ruza
Education Programs Coordinator
The Rockwell Museum
When a child is able to connect an experience in their life to the broader world around them, something magical happens!
There is a moment. An expression. A pause. A light bulb turns on, and a child who is struggling no longer feels alone. They feel safe. They feel understood. That is the moment in which we as counselors and educators can truly make a difference. When that moment combines with laughter, play, and creativity, then the possibilities for healing are endless.
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Don’t get me wrong, these experiences are rare. Those of us who work with at-risk youth focus all efforts on creating those kinds of moments, but the truth is that you can’t force them – all you can do is create the space for them to happen. This work is what CareFirst and all of the other Garden of Fire partners are trying to accomplish in our summer programming. In the recent Rain Stick Making workshop led by CareFirst’s Tara Chapman, these moments were abundant.
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
You can see the look in their eye as they were able to connect their emotional experiences to the world around them, and specifically, to this year’s theme of water. The children were able to talk about their life, times when they had difficult things happen, and how they cope with the intense emotions of life we all feel. They used the symbol of water and created rain sticks that allowed them to create music and express themselves in a new and unique way.
Photo courtesy of Dan Gallagher photography
Photo courtesy of Dan Gallagher photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
These kinds of activities are what help young minds grow.
When we as humans combine nature and creativity with a chance to process our emotions and focus on our own well-being, it creates fertile ground for healing, growth, and endless possibilities.
There is no greater blessing than to see this in our youth and to know that the future of tomorrow is being left in the hands of children who have not only expanded their minds, but healed their hearts.
Chelsea E. Ambrose
Counseling Services Manager, CareFirst
This year’s theme is Water, and what a fantastic, flexible, flowing theme for the summer! Water is one of the most attractive of the elements – who doesn’t want to dip their toes in a stream, splash around in a stream, put their hands under a waterfall?
Water is powerful in two ways – it is a dynamic force with unique physical and chemical properties, and it is a constant reminder of our connection to the rest of the life on our planet.
Now, “unique physical and chemical properties” sounds cool to me, but it doesn’t necessarily fall that way on a kid’s ears. The trick to get them turned on to the awesomeness of water is to bring in our animal ambassadors, and encourage the kids to imagine how our animals use, adapt to, or even defy the powers of water in their daily life. The kids know how frigid winter can be here in New York, and how dry a summer drought can be. How do our amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals survive in a constantly changing environment?
The states of matter – solid, liquid, and gas – may not seem that exciting in a textbook. But when kids can see a grey tree frog up close and learn how this tiny creature changes his whole body chemistry to prevent the water in his cells from turning to ice and bursting his cell walls – that adds wonder and awe to what the youth know about two hydrogens and one oxygen molecule.
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Talking about and meeting our animals also encourages the kids to reflect on their own bodies, and how important water is to their survival. The water in our cells connects us to the grey tree frog, and to the lettuces and tomatoes growing in the gardens. In each living being on the planet, H20 is circulating. Humans are breathing it out as water vapor; trees are transporting it through xylem and phloem. The Garden of Fire program provides room for kids to appreciate the strength of water in its different physical states, and the inspiration of water as a bond between all living things.
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Water unifies, strengthens, and nourishes the children in the program – not just quenching their physical thirst or plumping the peppers they will harvest later, but also provoking questions and inspiring reflection on our responsibilities to each other and to the rest of the life on our planet.
Bridget Sharry
Community Relations Manager
Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum
Last week, Garden of Fire partners met at The Rockwell Museum to finalize many details about programming and discussed aspects of this year’s theme of WATER.
We are all very excited to be flowing into year three of this wonderful program for youth in our area . Water is essential to the existence of life and can be a great symbol of the relationship between all living things.
More than half of the human body is composed of water and about 71% of planet earth is water. Water can move through just about anything and over time can carve canyons.
Drop by drop, little by little, in the lives of children and teens who participate in the program, we hope to help open a stream of expression through the arts and a sense of wonder through the science that can move through their entire lives.
Participants can look forward to many water-themed projects and programs. For example, as the youth centers grow their gardens, they’ll work with Tanglewood Nature Center and learn about how crucial water is for gardens to grow, and how plants adapt to different climates based on availability of water in their natural habitat.
At The Rockwell, students will make their own Clay Animal Garden Sculptures, created with symbolism meant to protect and grow their garden. With CareFirst, students will make their own rain sticks in conjunction with reflection on internal growth.
We are so excited to launch this summer’s program – it can’t come soon enough! Look for the full summer schedule coming soon. Until then….
I am very pleased to be presenting at the 12th Annual National Summer Learning Association Conference. This year’s conference theme, Renewing the Promise and Purpose of Learning, celebrates the joy of learning, the perfect tie-in with our own Garden of Fire Summer Program.
I, Gigi Alvaré , Director of Education at The Rockwell Museum, will travel to Baltimore to present with my colleagues Emily Hofelich-Bowler and Alli Lidie; we’ll present on how networking and collaboration can spark innovation in summer programming.
Gigi Alvaré, Director of Education at The Rockwell Museum, reads the Garden of Fire story during the first summer session
The session will give context to the Garden of Fire collaboration with an opening discussion, led by Alli Lidie, Deputy Director and White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellow of AfterSchool Works! NY: the New York State Afterschool Network (ASW:NYSAN). Alli will speak about the structure for regional after-school networks in New York State that bring together both after-school and summer providers in their communities. The Garden of Fire program grew out of the relationships formed through network participation, and through work with The Triangle Fund, a funder and member of the network. The session will also touch on work done by other regional networks in New York.
Emily Hofelich-Bowler, Executive Director of the Addison Youth Center, presents her owl friend to students
The Garden of Fire is a project conceived collaboratively by local organizations whose purpose is to build capacity, depth and the integration of art and science for programs serving at-risk youth in Steuben County, New York. Emily Hofelich-Bowler, Executive Director of the Addison Youth Center, will speak about networking with the local school districts to optimize resources, and how incorporating state-wide learning initiatives (STEM) as part of the program gave the summer program more leverage and legitimacy in asking for school support.
By providing programming led by professional artists and educators held in museums, gardens, and fields, the local community and region opens up to students who otherwise might have very limited opportunities. It is our hope that the model program we have collectively created will spark the imagination and action of other communities to build their own Gardens of Fire.
Together we can care for our most precious gifts: the earth itself and the children who live on it.
Gigi Alvaré
Director of Education
The Rockwell Museum
Last Saturday morning, as I stepped outside, I was overwhelmed by the smell of summer. I thought to myself, “I wait all year just for this.”
As a child, I loved the freedom of summer, endless days with friends and play, and very little structure. Free time is so important for kids. It provides a space for creativity and connectedness.
The Garden of Fire Programs prides itself on offering educational, artful activities that participants would not experience in the regular classroom.
As adults, we also know that children lose many of the skills they achieve in the school year when they are away from a learning environment. Kids from disadvantaged backgrounds are especially in danger of losing basic math, science, reading and writing skills in the summer.
Garden of Fire provides programming that balances those competing needs. While keeping children tuned into math, science, and writing, it also provides a space for playfulness and creativity. The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes and our partners are thrilled to have been a part of this innovative program.
Dr. Constance Sullivan-Blum Executive Director The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes
Here’s your weekly update from the Garden of Fire! This week, participants went for a nature hike at Tanglewood Nature Center, then learned the craft of bookmaking with artists from 171 Cedar Arts Center.
Garden of Fire 