ENVIRONMENTAL ART WORKSHOPS

About eARTh Lab

eARTh Lab workshops use art to develop skills, promote personal growth, and to encourage a new generation of active citizens. Each workshop engages teaching artists, education interns, and wonderful volunteers in sessions that are open to youths of all ages. Free snacks are provided as well.

WORKSHOPS FOR SUMMER 2025 

All workshops are free and open to the public

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 – Nature Collage with Cheese Glue with Teaching Artist Elisabeth Heying

1:30-4 PM

Tuesday, June 24, 2025 – Creature Connections Sculptures with Teaching Artist Grace Beno

1:30-4 PM

Tuesday, July 1, 2025 – Air-Dry Clay Nature Mosaics with Teaching Artist Michael Finch

1:30-4 PM

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 – Our Imagined River with Teaching Artist Amelia Blue Gortera

1:30-4 PM

Tuesday, July 15, – Mud Stencils with Teaching Artist Nancy Ariza

1:30-4 PM

Tuesday, July 22, Hummingbird Pollinator Masks with Teaching Artist Esther Ouray

1:30-4 PM

Tuesday, July 29, Pollinator Parade with Teaching Artist Mia Vue Jennings

1:30-4 PM

Tuesday, August 5, Special eARTh Lab Workshop lead by Public Art Saint Paul Intern Sophia Phillips

1:30-4 PM

Rain Date: August 12, 2025 

1:30-4 PM

Workshop activities may be subject to change

SIGN UP

eARTh Lab is a drop in program. Registration is only required if you have ten or more in your group. Call or text 651.290.0921 or email marz@publicartstpaul.org to sign up.

ADDRESS

Western Sculpture Park

387 Marion St,

St Paul, MN 55103

PARKING

Street parking is available on W Fuller Ave and N Farrington St.

200 years ago, the area that is now Western Sculpture Park was an encampment for fur traders traveling in ox carts from Canada across Minnesota. As homes, businesses, and infrastructure developed the area drew a diverse population of residents – European immigrants, African-American families moving westward from downtown Saint Paul, and today, new immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Central America.

18 years ago, Public Art Saint Paul responded to the initiative of neighborhood residents and artists who sought to transform an underdeveloped and neglected public park into a lively civic gathering space.

Their dream for a safe, beautiful space for children to play neighbors to congregate has become a reality in the Western Sculpture Park we see today.

UPDATES ACKNOWLEDGING THE NATIVE HISTORY OF THIS LOCATION IS COMING SOON.

Since the re-designed Western Sculpture Park opened in 1998, Education has been a core part of Public Art Saint Paul’s programming. In 2009 the program entered a new phase with the commission of the Spider Mobile Art Lab by Christopher Lutter-Gardella. The Spider is a result of an effort by PASP with the Summit University Planning Council and a host of community partners in 2006 to assess the conditions of the residential area around the park and recommend strategic steps to promote safety in neighborhood. The effort resulted in recommendations to increase access to educational services, improve the beauty and amenity of streetscapes and open spaces, foster economic development, and weave art into everyday life. We have retired the Spider Mobile as it is no longer functional. Needless to stay, the workshops have been renamed eARTh Labs and continue into the 2023 season!

eARTHlab comes to Western Sculpture Park in the Central Corridor Neighborhood 12 times each summer for a series of free, drop-in environmental artmaking workshops that use earth-friendly supplies and processes and relate to the theme Where in the World is Water. Each workshop engages teaching artists, education interns, and wonderful volunteers from the community for sessions from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm that is open to children of all ages. A free snack is provided halfway.

eARTH Lab workshops use art to develop skills, promote personal growth, and encourage a new generation of active citizens. Each free session is structured as a self-contained activity so there is no registration or ongoing attendance commitment. This results in exceptionally high participation, with nearly 600 young people attending over the summer of 2015. A season-end awards ceremony is presided over by public officials to celebrate the accomplishments of the participants.

Themes have focused on water quality awareness for the past 3 years. In the years ahead, program themes will expand to include other living systems of the City including food, forests, and infrastructure.

Workshops are produced by Public Art Saint Paul in partnership with Saint Paul Parks and Recreation and a host of education, environmental conservation, and community organizations, including the Capitol Region Watershed District.

The National Recreation and Parks Association Congress points to Western Sculpture Park as a national model of public/private partnership in art education and community building.

Our Education Assistants and amazing volunteers from throughout the community assist in all aspects of workshop production. They possess skill in artmaking, enjoy working with young people, and have interest in environmental issues. They’re awesome!

If you are interested in being a summer assistant or volunteering please email pasp@publicartstpaul.org

The Western Sculpture Park Sculpture Exhibition and Environmental Art Workshops are made possible through Public Art Saint Paul’s partnership with Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, the Saint Paul Sewer Utility, and the Capitol Region Watershed District.

Our Generous Supporters

I. A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation
R. C. Lilly Foundation
Sage Cleveland Foundation
The Capitol Region Watershed District
The Elmer L & Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation
The Saint Paul Foundation
F.R. Bigelow Foundation
Mardag Foundation
The John and Ruth Huss Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation
Minnesota Department of Health Drinking Water Protection
Generous Individuals
The voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.