2022 Stewardship Grant Success Stories
Alchemy Art Center
The San Juan Islands License Plate Project Awards $5000 to Alchemy Arts on San Juan Island
Alchemy Art Center Director Maria Michaelson
reports on how the Madrona Institute Grant
has helped Alchemy engage more young people in the arts.
by Maria Michaelson
The grant we received for $5000 allowed Alchemy, in partnership with the Conservation District, our
first ever Art+Environment (young environmentalists) program. This program took place over 10
weeks in March, April, and May of 2022, and with an enrollment of 10-13 middle school aged kids.
Curriculum was taught by 7 visiting local and regional artists, environmentalists, and activists, and
focused on three units: Sense of Place, Design and Messaging, and Reuse/Upcycling. This program,
including three Saturday field trips, was facilitated by Alchemy and Conservation District staff (Glenn
Hendrick, Maria Michaelson, Kelsey Kittleson), as well as several very generous volunteers.
Art+Environment culminated in an art show featuring the work created by this incredible group of
kids.
Indigenous Education Institute
The San Juan Islands License Plate Project Awards $2500 to Indigenous Education Institute
Indigenous Education Institute’s (IEI) director Nancy Maryboy reports on how the Madrona Institute Grant helped IEI launch a new Pacific Northwest Speaker Series
Washington State Poet Laureate
and Lummi Tribal Member, Rena Priest
The grant monies greatly benefited the Indigenous Education Institute this year. It covered much of
the expenses for our Pacific Northwest Speaker Series: A Sense of Place - Indigenous Perspectives
of Earth, Water and Sky. We we able to bring in Washington Poet Laureate Rena Priest, a Lummi
tribal member, for an outstanding presentation, via zoom. More than 450 participants joined in the
presentation and following discussion. The chat room was really buzzing with excited conversations
among scientists, poets, San Juan County residents, teachers, professors and students. The
evaluation responses were 100% extremely positive.
Friends of the San Juans
The San Juan Islands License Plate Project Awards $5000 to Friends of the San Juans
Jess Newley Community Science and Engagement Manager
reports on how the Madrona Institute Grant
has helped students lead several environmental community action projects.
Environmental Club Visits Yellow Island
and Brown Island to Clean Up!
The stewardship grant we received was critical for our work with Environmental Club students this
year. Because of this grant we were able to meet weekly with the Friday Harbor Eco Club, mentor
(11) students on a community action project, as well as one student from Spring Street International
School, and we were also able to offer stewardship trips to Yellow Island for Great Islands Clean Up
and to Brown Island for a beach restoration project that involved planting native dune grass. This
grant was important in enabling us to accomplish our mission of protecting and restoring the San
Juan Islands and the Salish Sea for people and nature by helping us to inspire youth stewards
through meaningful and hands-on experiences in the community. Friends of the San Juans staff was
able to mentor 12 students on community action projects that gave them the tools to take action, the
leadership skills to spread awareness and education, and connected them with other leaders in the
community and government officials. Friday Harbor Eco-Club students
Please share one memorable highlight on how the grant boosted stewardship,
youth opportunities, and/or climate action.
Final Art Show was a Highlight of the Program
It's difficult to pick out one specific highlight (there were so many!) but everything culminated in the
final art show. It was truly wonderful to see all of the work created during this 10-week session, and
what kids chose to focus on for their final projects. Some students expressed their feelings about
climate change in powerful images and messages that they screen printed onto apparel, others
focused on up-cycling items destined for the landfill into sculptures and decor, and others created an
"earth strata" planter out of recycled clay to showcase native mosses and plant life. And these are
just a few examples! By the end of this course, each student was more confident and expressive in
their concern for their world, and had developed many new tools for expressing their ideas. The final
show highlighted their achievements beautifully, and it was a joy to celebrate with them.
This program really changed the way the kids
look at the world and in particular their understanding
of local tribal communities in terms of
authentic Indigenous stewardship
and the value of Indigenous languages,
as key components
in understanding the world we live in.
This kind of sharing and understanding creates collaborations between the native and non-native world. It builds
awareness of the traditional Indigenous ways of stewardship and coping with environmental change. To me, the most
amazing thing was how Rena Priest was able to talk science in terms of poetry. This took the talk out of the "box" of
looking at science and enabled participants to understand science in terms that everyone could understand
and value. The participants who were scientists may have been moved the very most by her
presentation. Everyone wanted to hear more from her. This goes a long way into building community relationships.
One memorable highlight was when our Spring Street student took the initiative to present to a
middle school Climate Change class about her time in our Environmental Leadership Club. This was
especially memorable because it pushed this student outside her box and allowed her to step up into
a leadership role and spread the word to younger students the importance of stewardship and some
of the hands-on, local actions we can take to help combat large, global issues like Climate Change.
This was also a great recruitment strategy to get students involved in our mentorship program.
