Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts

All levels welcome

This workshop focuses on creative uses for itadori, aka “Japanese knotweed,” including dyes, marquetry, bio leather, and bio composites. Working with the Sugar Maples campus landscape, participants will get hands-on experience in biomaterials techniques. The Streambank research project focuses on non-chemical management methods and uses of the plant’s dried biomass to support ongoing ecological restoration. We will learn best practices for ecological stewardship that draw from both traditional and emerging fields. Agroecology, bio design, regenerative agriculture, biocultural restoration, alternative ecologies, and critical ethnobotany will be explored.

Timothy Furstnau is an artist, designer, and curator based in the Catskills of New York. He is co-founder of the studio FICTILIS, Museum of Capitalism, Writ Large festival of screen-based text art, and Hudson’s Toolshed Exchange tool lending library. He teaches circular economy and studio courses in the Integrated Design program at Parsons School of Design and leads workshops on art and ecology, biomaterials, and land stewardship at the residency project Deurendis.

Fee: $415 (Course Fee: $330 + Lab Fee: $45 + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)