“Where would we be without these lovely places? They are talking to people’s souls. They are sanctuaries for the soul.” – Lynden Miller, garden designer and public parks advocate
There is much to be said about the role of the greenspace within the urban environment. They are spaces of beauty, to see wildlife, to provide shade on hot summer days and absorb rainfall during days-long stretches of storms. More than just a yard, a greenspace is where the flower blooms, the worm seeks refuge from the robin, and where the weary walker rests their feet.
In my past two years at Rutgers-Newark, I’ve done much research on the community garden movement of the 1970s in New York City. No one person set off the spark, but instead individuals across the five boroughs teamed together to make the changes they wanted to see in their own neighborhoods. Liz Christy, Amos Taylor, and Martin Gallent founded the Green Guerillas, throwing seed bombs into abandoned lots and placing flower boxes onto the windowsills of abandoned buildings. They created the Bowery Houston Farm and Garden to promote urban agriculture in the Lower East Side, the historically bustling neighborhood of immigrants. Hattie Carthan saw her tree-less Bed-Stuy and formed the Bedford-Stuyvesant Beautification Committee, overseeing block associations that would plant over 1,500 trees. Puerto Ricans, part of the Nuyorican Art Movement, founded gardens across the East Village from empty lots where apartment buildings had once stood. These gardens took land that the city had forgotten, even had thrown their trash and old cars in, and made something beautiful of them. They created something beautiful for their communities that had little else after years of racial discrimination, disinvestment, and urban renewal.
It is these urban environmentalists that we at the Price Healing Garden seek to learn from, and their methods that we see continue to succeed in our own Downtown Newark. This spring has been a clear example, with several successful events that have brought together nonprofits, students, staff, community members, and artists. As we wrap up our spring semester, and celebrate our graduating class as they move on to their future endeavors, let’s look back at our garden since we last spoke in April and see how we’ve formed a community of our own.
On April 10th, muralist Layqa Nuna Yawar visited our garden to host a figure drawing class. Students gathered in the cold with pencils and clipboards to admire the buds of our returning perennials, drawing plants, scenes, and the people sitting next to them. We then moved inside, putting these pieces together to create a complete work of art to present to the group. This work was an opportunity to reflect and to create in a way that both allowed others to engage with the work while also being deeply personal to the individual. After the class, Layqa spoke at an installment of the Our Newark Futures series at the Newark Public Library.
On April 17th, groups from across Newark gathered for our Audible-sponsored “Where does the Sunflower Grow?” event to discuss the phytoremediation process. In collaboration with the Humanities Action Lab, members of the Newark Water Coalition spoke about lead toxicity in water and Rutgers Earth and Environmental Science students tested soil brought by participants from their own backyards and gardens. We planted irises along the edge of the garden, where the most toxic metals were present, and were rewarded for our efforts with delicious vegetarian tacos by Chef Charlene of Elegant Bouquet Kitchen.
On April 24th, RU-Eco held a plant sale at the garden to raise money for the coming year. The Price provided terracotta pots to be painted by the children visiting campus for Take Your Kid to Work Day, and by all accounts it was a popular project for all who attended. Over 60 pots were painted and plenty of seed packets distributed to these future gardeners as well. We were thrilled to continue our support of the up-and-coming group and look forward to seeing the events they can now plan with the funds that they raised.
On April 25th, we welcomed Chief Mann of the Turtle Clan of the Munsee Ramapough Lenape people for the installation of our garden’s land acknowledgement signs. The ceremony celebrated Newark’s past inhabitants and the continued existence of native communities in North Jersey, including the planting traditions that thrive on the land of our community partner at the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm. There was food to be shared and already the fragrant leaves of a native sage plant to be smelled as our garden began to bloom under the sunny skies.
Lastly, on May 1st we all gathered in the garden for a film showing of “Black Rodeo” (1972). This event was the second part of a student capstone, my capstone to be exact, and was co-sponsored by the American Studies program. It was a lovely evening, with members of the community gathered under our tent to enjoy a documentary highlighting the Black cowboys that took over Manhattan in the mid-70s for the rodeo of a lifetime. With BBQ on our plates and the sun setting just over the buildings next door, we laughed at rodeo clowns and watched these athletes perform daring stunts all in the name of entertainment. After the film concluded, our panel of American Studies PhD students answered questions about Black representation in the media and formed a lively discussion about the use of Black cowboys as a form of education and public history. With such a large turnout, it is our hope that we can hold more film showings in the future.
Finals may be over, but there is still much to look forward to as the summer months approach. On Saturday June 14th, the Price Institute will be hosting the Newark Science and Sustainability “Health is Wealth Herbal Festival”, highlighting sustainability efforts across the city of Newark. Some of our longtime partners will be there, such as Chef Charlene and the Urban Agriculture Cooperative, as well as some newer ones such as Glassroots. Join these urban agriculturalists for free workshops, a farmstand, an herbalist’s market, and much much more!
Until then, congratulations to all of our Rutgers graduates who will be crossing the stage this Thursday and we hope to see you all again this fall for a bountiful harvest.
If you want to reach us during the summer months, make sure to follow our instagram @pricehealinggarden.