The Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College will hold a free Environmental Art Workshop on Sat., May 2, from 1 to 5 p.m. Workshop participants will be led on an artistic journey to heighten their awareness and appreciation of the environment through a series of exercises. Building on this awareness, participants will develop a playful interaction with their surroundings to create original art installations using only materials found in the environment. This workshop will be led by James Yates who has a background in sculpture and site-specific public art projects. His degrees include a BFA and MA in adult education and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology.

The workshop will take place in Randolph College?s Organic Garden, which is nationally recognized and offers more than the average college garden. Aside from raised plots available to students year-round to grow vegetables and learn many productive gardening techniques, the garden also has an orchard with some of the rarest apple trees in America grafted by students under the supervision of Tom Burford, one of the world?s foremost apple experts. The garden is recognized by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as a Wildlife Habitat and features a first-generation food forest that also serves as a living library for propagation purposes. There are also several breeds of chickens which help to fulfill Permaculture principles.

The workshop was made possible through the Maier Museum of Art?s membership in the Virginia Museum of Fine Art?s Statewide Partnership Program, and is supported, in part, by its Paul Mellon Endowment and the Jean Stafford Camp Memorial Fund.