Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains to Host WiLD CiTY Outdoor Workshop

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The Recourse Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains will host its next WiLD CiTY workshop—which invites attendees to create art with nature—at Will Rogers State Historic Park, on Saturday, August 12, from 9 to 11 a.m.

“We launched the series this past spring where workshops fostered an incredible community of passionate and thoughtful explorers,” organizers said via email. “We hope to continue growing our impressive group.”

The workshop at Will Rogers State Historic Park, which will be led by Amy Stewart and Ashley Meier, will feature natural-based and sustainable crafting, including paper-making and plant-based fabric dyeing.

“Experienced naturalists will also lead a short hike as we explore the types of plants that could be used in these nature-based practices,” organizers explained.

Those who participate will leave the workshop with their own handmade paper, which will be ingrained with local flowers and plants, as well as bandannas and ribbons of wool yarn, which will be dyed with sage and elderberry.

“For this class we will dye a cotton bandanna and a ribbon of wool yarn while learning: color choice (this class focuses on yellow and pink), native and local plants and flowers yielding color, fibers/fabrics (material choice), mordanting, making a dye bath, and actual dyeing,” Stewart said via the RCDSMM website.

Stewart garnered more than 25 years of classroom teaching experience through Los Angeles Unified School District before retiring. She holds a Waldorf Practical Arts Teaching certificate, “where her knitting and plant-dyeing flourished.”

Meier, owner and creator of Golden Terra Co, runs her own sustainable street fair, The Afterglow Makers Market.

“[Ashley is] a local artist whose creativity is deeply rooted in the captivating wonders of the earth,” according to RCDSMM. “Whether that be through paper making, fiber arts, painting or soap making, Ashley’s passion for the environment is evident in every piece she creates.”

The “immersive outdoor” workshop series features LA’s “most scenic and unexplored wildspaces,” according to the email. Previous locations for workshops include Malibu Lagoon, Topanga State Park and Sepulveda Basin. The series was originally launched in May with six planned workshops, but has since been extended and will continue through fall.

Those who book the experience will also have an opportunity to “further engage with fellow workshop participants and leaders at a nearby venue” after the workshop concludes, a facet that has been offered following each previous experience.

Tickets for the workshop are available for $48.

RCDSMM operates with a mission of promoting land stewardship and resource conservation through “ecological research, conservation planning and design, habitat restoration, and environmental education, while adhering to the highest standards of transparency and accountability as a public agency.”

“With the help of these skillful leaders and fellow engaged community members,” according to the RCDSMM website, “we hope WiLD CiTY will help you see LA through a whole new, wild lens.”

Registration is open at rcdsmm.org/wild-city-workshop.