Day One at What Cheer Flower Farm | Samuel Aguirre | MFA Furniture Design ’24
Day One at What Cheer Flower Farm | Samuel Aguirre | MFA Furniture Design ’24
Final projects complete. The studios are empty. Critiques have settled in and the weight of the semester has left my body. Campus is pleasantly quiet, the pace of Providence has slowed and the spring/summer weather is oh-so pleasant… Deep inhale through the nose… … hold… … exhale. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Summer has begun.
For those just joining us, I will be working with What Cheer Flower Farm (WCFF), a nonprofit agriculture and floristry center dedicated to bringing solace, joy and healing to the people of Rhode Island by giving away hundreds of thousands of flowers annually and supporting the local floral economy via job training. What Cheer Flower Farm has ambitious plans to remediate and build out their 2.7 acres of former factory land in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence. I will be spending my summer leading a community effort to design-build a high profile, public facing outdoor space dedicated to community use.
Yesterday was our kick off meeting and the farm is alive with action. The farm is in a state of expansion and remediation is well underway with excavators and bulldozers moving dirt. WCFF Volunteers are hard at work and given the freedom to “do what feels good”. One can make bouquets with recovered and donated flowers in the barn or go outside and help with light farm work in the gardens. Everywhere the air is filled with pleasantries, conversations of grant writing, gratitude for beautiful weather, resource planning, and weekend plans. The overlap of casual conversation and passion for work feels at home.
And here I am in the middle of it. And full of gratitude. Grateful for the opportunity from Maharam and RISD to make this my summer. Grateful to Erin and Christine at WCFF for sharing my enthusiasm for the journey ahead. And grateful to embark on a project that meets me where I am: Craving a creative outlet in the interest of the greater community, with the guidance of hands-on, non-profit leadership to make it happen.
Lets do this 🙂
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