I now have the project up on the ArtSpire website to accept tax deductible donations (through my wonderful fiscal sponsor, NYFA).
Your tax deductible donation will be used to continue to grow the network across New York, and if all goes well, the world. If you are interested in sponsoring a project for a specific city or organization, please let me know I am happy to work with you on creating a great site.
With the beautiful weather that has descended upon NYC, we here at Seeding The City have been itching to get our fingers dirty. Over the weekend we planted some test modules with herbs (some that are good in sandy dry shallow soil – cuban oregano anyone?) and some that traditionally don’t do as well (rosemary?) — we are hopeful that at least some of these plants will thrive so that we can offer them over the fall.
Those of you who are on my general mailing list (if you aren’t already, sign up here: http://evemosher.com/gallery2/page/contact) know about the inventory loss that we suffered in February. Due to some mis-communication completely out of our control, half of our modules (they were awaiting spring installation) were thrown out. It is reported that the plants were replanted, so that is good – but it is a loss of a lot of materials, labor and the time that it took for them to get established. (The modules that we have still have mostly done really well – the sedum spreading and the grasses growing anew).
So… we are starting a fundraising campaign. We’ll be launching a campaign (complete with donor gifts) in a couple of weeks. This fundraiser will allow us to collect money to both continue the original network of green roofs as well as plan and produce workshops with communities around the city who are interested in either creating a green roof for their community (schools, institutional organizations) or hosting a green roof workshop day for their constituency (community organizations, neighborhood and block associations).
If you are a current proud host of a module, watch for an email soon, we want to come check on the plants and do a quick soil acid test to make sure everything is growing well!
As always, if you are interested in participating as an individual or if you think you might like to host a workshop – email me!
p.s. i will try to get some photos up of the herbs right away!
I have a flat of gorgeous native woodland seedum. I will be planting them in containers and will sell them (with a small flag & project info on the side) to help raise money for the project. They are really beautiful with little white flowers. Wait, let me take a picture.
It will be a limited edition piece (less than 50), but these are great seedum to have at home. I am going to price them at $50 per. If you would like to pre-order one, let me know (eve at seedingthecity dot com).
Also, I have posted on ThePoint.com to see if I can get that tipping point to work, today they sent me a “widget” to post:
However, at this point I am most excited about a microfinancing idea: ArtPowered.com.
I like to approach projects from an “outside the box” (boy, thats an overused term) point of view. When I mentioned the “Seeding the City” to a friend who works with green roofs, he questioned the value of planting such a small plot of greenery – how is that going to have any real affect on the Urban Heat Island Effect?
May answer, “Each individual module may have a negligible affect, but what would hundreds of modules spread across the city do to both our environment, our awareness and our social fabric?”
When you consider the potential of the project, creating potentially enough greenery on rooftops to recreate a Central Park in the sky? Now it gets interesting.
I have also been considering how to raise money for the project outside of the “normal” channels (i.e. grants). A couple of things have come up recently which I am investigating:
So, does anyone have any thoughts on any of this? Are there ways you would want to participate financially? Would you give a small amount for nothing in return or prefer a larger amount and a unique experience or commodity (if so what would that experience or commodity be?) or would you prefer to know that your funds are directed at a specific piece of action?
So I have written a couple of different summary statements. Which do you like better?
“Seeding the City” is a public art project that seeks to plant “seeds” of thought in the urban environment on challenges of climate change and potential for remediation. Social networking will determine the location for installation of individual green roof sample sites. Included with the installation will be educational and community building tools, and methods to trace the growth of the network. Online resources will include mapping of the project, tools for tracking local urban heat island effect and resources to recreate the project worldwide.
“Seeding the City” is an art project that utilizes social networking to site urban interventions in the form of green roof modules. It capitalizes on community building to introduce urban environmental issues and remediation tools. The modules and their accompanying flags and street level signage will track the growth of the network throughout the neighborhood. Online resources will include mapping of the project, tools for tracking local urban heat island effect and resources to recreate the project worldwide.
Let me know in the comments!
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