Join us at Black Seed Studio, located at 71 Cove St. Portland, ME for a hands on ceramics workshop! Led by Daniel Minter and Jenny Ibsen, this workshop will guide participants through the creation of hand-formed clay beads that will be key elements of an upcoming public art project. The project, titled In the Life of Trees, will take the form of a large, freestanding sculpture using tree trunks, bound together, referencing the  African proverb, “Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.” These trees will then be strung with handmade, clay beads the size of golf balls to as large as oranges. Each bead represents the hopes and prayers we have for the generations to come. This project is a meditation on both our unity and endurance.

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to hand-form the clay beads that will be strung across Daniel Minter’s sculpture, each one representing the prayers and aspirations held by the participant for the future. Both the project and its community participation will culminate in a public artwork at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in July 2025, that stands as a tangible representation of our commitment to one another, and for the generations to come.

No previous ceramics experience needed, but we do recommend attendees wear clothing they are okay with getting dusty. 

About Deconstructing the Boundaries: 

Deconstructing the Boundaries is a three-year partnership between Indigo Arts Alliance and Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, fostering resilience and unity within our communities while aspiring for a brighter future. Taking place on July 26th, 2025, the scheduled symposia will address the ways in which as people of the global majority, Black, Brown and Indigenous communities have been historically disenfranchised, culturally erased and forced to be resilient. And as concerned citizens of the world, we bear witness to social shifts and remain steady through political opposition, economic strife and social unrest. We aspire to create opportunities for recovery and reinvestment. In doing so, we hope to rejuvenate our relationship with not only the land, but with each other.

RSVP link for the symposia will open April 2025