MAKE IT TO GROW: Swissvale Discovers Art & Nature Residency

Make it To Grow Exhibition:

Visit Swissvale Library to view Artist-in-Residence Katy DeMent’s exhibit of hand-made paper art, crafted from locally sourced fibers, embellished with plants/weeds from the garden and other surprising textures.

This Month’s Kit: Butterflies & Symmetry!

Learn about butterflies, their life cycles, migrations and how they pollinate your garden. Seeds: pollinator support plants!

Learn about art, nature and food justice with a Make It to Grow kit! Designed by artist-in-residence Katy DeMent, Make It to Grow kits are fun for all ages, and can be done independently or together as a family. Pick up a new kit starting Monday October 11 while supplies last.

No registration required, just stop by and pick up a kit!

The Make It to Grow: Swissvale Discovers Art & Nature Residency brings awareness to Swissvale’s creative and garden communities through independent family engagements, both outdoors and indoors. All Residency activities encourage participants to view Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale as a valued resource and focal point of our community. This Artist in Education Residency is be led by local artist and Certified Teaching Artist (CTA) Katy DeMent.

The Residency:

Supports the Swissvale Library in its efforts to provide educational and entertainment opportunities for families in our community.
Provides hands-on, self-guided activities for participants of all ages.
Produces monthly programs that educate about food justice.
Engages the Swissvale community in learning about edible gardening opportunities and the food producing gardeners in Swissvale.
Promotes the Swissvale Edible Garden Tour (August 6-8, 2021).
Exhibits artwork generated in conjunction with this residency.

The Residency is made possible through a partnership between Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale and the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD). The Residency is supported in part by the Arts in Education Partnership of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Arts in Education Partner serving Allegheny, Beaver, Greene, and Washington counties is Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media.

Make it to Grow Events

In-person Make It To Grow events support the Swissvale Community Garden, Swissvale Farmers Market, Swissvale Community Food Pantry,and Swissvale Edible Garden Tour. The Residency enhances local, pre-existing events with hands-on activities related to food justice. These free, outdoor events are open to the public and for all ages.

Make it to Grow Art & Nature Kits

New kits will be available on:

March 15 – tiny greenhouse bean seed necklace and a succulent starter
April 12 – landscape design and creative map making in your community, planning your garden, mapping your community
May 10 – mother’s day cards and gifts with pressed flowers
June 14 – seedlings, botanical illustrations + a veggie seedling
July 15 – vintage specimen box watercolor insects
August 2 – map documenting the Edible Garden Tour, photo scavenger hunt tool kit
September 13 – printmaking kit
October 11 – butterflies and other pollinators kit
November 15 – Feed the birds – observing and illustrating our feathered friends, take home locally grown bird seed and a birding journal