This all-ages intergenerational workshop introduces participants to the eco-system services provided by native plant communities. Artist Erin Wiersma and Landscape Architect Katie Kingery-Page will lead this two-hour experience, beginning with an introduction to the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills, gestural drawing to embody the line and movement of plants, and observational drawing of plant structure and flowers. Come ready to stretch yourself and enjoy drawing in the company of others interested in native plants.

No drawing experience required! Materials will be provided!

Katie Kingery-Page is a landscape architect who uses drawing and ethnographic interview methods to understand place. She studied sculpture at Wichita State University, art theory at the School of the Chicago Art Institute, ecology through Antioch College, and landscape architecture through Kansas State University. She recently completed a cycle of drawings as a resident of the Tallgrass Artist Residency in Matfield Green, Kansas. As an engaged scholar, she collaborates with communities to reveal local knowledge that helps people make meaningful decisions for civic futures. Kingery-Page is associate dean and a professor in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Design at Kansas State University.

Erin Wiersma, a visual artist from Manhattan, Kansas, explores the relationship between body and environment through site-specific practice at the Konza Prairie Biological Station. She integrates works on paper, video, and community engagement to examine connections between humans and the prairie. Her work captures traces of the tallgrass ecosystem using materials from prescribed burns. Wiersma’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including ‘Earthly Observatory’ at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Galleries (Chicago, IL) and ‘Wester: Works on Paper from the Konza Prairie’ at Mid-America Arts Alliance (Kansas City, MO). She is represented by Robischon Gallery (Denver, CO) and Galerie Wehlau (Munich, Germany). Wiersma is a Professor of Art at Kansas State University, where she fosters cross-disciplinary connections between art, ecology, and environmental research.