Community Events, Nelson BC, Virtual Participation, Workshops

EartHand branches out to Nelson!

Posted by sharonkallis on

After involvement with EartHand over the past few years in Vancouver, Jaymie Johnson has recently relocated back to her hometown of Nelson in the West Kootenays, BC, on the traditional territories of the Sinixt (Lakes) peoples, with the Ktunaxa to the East, the Syilx (Okanagan) to the West, and the Secwepemc (Shuswap) to the North.

Jaymie is enthusiastic about applying the methods and skills she’s learned from her time with EartHand in Vancouver to facilitate eco-art programming and local fibre investigations in the Nelson area.

As she gets reacquainted with this land, she invites you to join her in the investigation of seasonal fibre resources in the West Kootenays’ backyards and gardens.

Jaymie will be hosting a free online series this summer for people living in and around Nelson who are interested in joining this exploration. Information and registration for this series and future Nelson events can be found listed here.

Please contact Jaymie at EarthandNelson(at)gmail.com to receive updates about EartHand programming in Nelson and for any other inquiries.

Jaymie’s initial involvement with EartHand was through a mentorship with Sharon Kallis in assisting (2016) and then delivering (2017) a community eco-art event series and installation for Border Free Bees. Jaymie was mentored in community-engagement methodologies and plant fibre harvesting and processing.

Since then, Jaymie’s main involvement with EartHand has been through her role as Stewardship Coordinator, in engaging community in tending EartHand’s two gardens that grow artist materials during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. She has also been a Guest Instructor, facilitating English Ivy weaving with SPES and stewardship and studio programming such as botanical drawing and mapping for youth and adults and in partnership with other Instructors. Jaymie has been involved in supportive roles with the Youth Innovations project in which she created signage for the gardens, and with the 2018 ‘Local Threads’ exhibition in supporting with community programming.

Jaymie has also been an enthusiastic participant in various programs and classes such as the Linen Growers Club, Fish Leather Tanning, Net-Making, Natural Pigments, Commuter Pack-Weavers Guild, and more.