Workshops & Events
Get creative in Indigo in Green nature-based art workshops, playshops, and learning experiences. From weaving with botanically dyed yarn in the garden to creating sun prints from plants, our in-person workshops offer a hands-on approach to creative exploration. Often paired with nature walks and explorations of green spaces, these workshops are an invitation to uncover the wonder of the botanical world.
Indigo Workshop
Black Star Projects - Joiri Minaya: Venus Fly Trap
Bartram's Garden
5400 Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19143
June 29, 2025, 12:00 - 2:30 PM
WORKSHOP SOLD OUT
May 29 - June 1
Performance and additional programming at venusflytrap.blackstarfest.org
Join me for this workshop in conjunction with Joiri Minaya: Venus Fly Trap, a site-specific, commissioned performance series and installation at Bartram’s Garden. In this workshop we will explore the wonders of indigo and natural fabric dyeing. Learn about the cultural significance of indigo—a plant that became one of the most lucrative commodities in the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade, and which remains deeply embedded in African diasporic history—and create your own textiles using natural dye made from indigo grown at Bartram's Garden.
We will begin with a grounding activity and collective song for the vat to activate connection with the land and materials. Additionally, Bartram's Director of Horticulture & Lead Gardener Mandy Katz will join us to discuss the history and cultivation of indigo at the garden. Through this workshop, each participant will experiment with various dye resist techniques and all will leave with their own hand dyed fabrics that can be used as custom hand towels, accessories, and more.
Botanical Ink @ Stenton Museum
4601 N 18th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140
Saturday, July 12 2025
12:30 PM — 3:00 PM
FREE - RSVP
Space is limited
Explore the Stenton Museum with me, natural materials artist, Nicole Duprée, to identify sources of color to make botanical ink. Bottle sensory experiences and connection with nature, then experiment with shifting the color of your handcrafted ink to create a plant-based color palette for drawing, printmaking, and fine writing with dip pens and brushes.
Fresh Leaf Indigo
Fair Amount Food Forest
2300 N 33rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19132
Thursday, July 31, 5 - 7PM
FREE | RSVP
Using fresh indigo leaves we will create dye and make botanical prints–using a simple flower pounding technique known as tatakizome or hapazome—capturing the magical color and beauty that comes from leaves of the indigo plant. All participants will be invited to make and take home a botanical printed tea towel and some hand-dyed ribbon for bouquets, gifts, or wrapping beautiful things.
Print & Sip: Botanical Tea Towel Workshop @ The Random Tea Room
Random Tea Room
713 North 4th St, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Celebrate the arrival of the summer with an afternoon of nature-inspired artmaking at The Random Tea Room. Using seasonal flowers, leaves, and dye plants, we’ll create botanical prints on tea towels using a simple leaf and flower pounding technique also known as tatakizome or hapazome—capturing the color and beauty of the longest days of the year.
As we create, sip summer herbal infusions complementing the plants we are working with. Everyone will leave with a hand-printed tea towel: a functional piece of botanical art!
Past Workshops
Plant Imprints
In collaboration with People’s Kitchen Philly and Termite TV Collective, we shared plant stories and created botanical prints: sunprints using turmeric and rubbings using handcrafted color blocks made from turmeric, beeswax, and finely ground yellow rock.
Termite TV| People's Kitchen | Reinhard Street Community Farm
Cherry Street Pier & Reinhard Street Community Farm
FREE
Visual Journal Workshop
Random Tea Room | 713 North 4th St, Philadelphia, PA
This workshop is a blend of visual journaling, bookbinding, and sensory exploration. Discover your seasonal theme or intention through guided practices and the reflective power of tea.
+ Make your own visual journal from ephemera and repurposed paper embellished with handcrafted botanical inks and paints.
+ Learn the basics of bookbinding and create a journal with foldouts, pockets, and secret spaces to tuck your musings, affirmations, and dreams.
+ Sample specialty craft teas, using the introspection of the first sip as inspiration for creating and journaling prompts.
+ Receive “The Collector's Book Kit“ which includes vintage paper dyed with natural materials, photo corners, naturally dyed yarn to embellish pages and bind books within your journal--as well as a bonus list of thoughtful prompts to guide use of your journal beyond the workshop.
Botanical Ink Workshop
Mount Airy Learning Tree
Wyck Historic House and Garden | Awbury Arboretum
Make your own ink for drawing and fine writing from natural materials using flowers and plants growing in our green spaces and simple ingredients found in your kitchen! Bottle experiences of connection with natural places and experiment with your own plant-based ink in this workshop.
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers
Members $65, Non Members $95
Natural Dye, Ink, & Paint on Paper
An afternoon of creative play and exploration with small-batch, natural, handcrafted supplies from the Indigo in Green Studio Apothecary. Experiment with natural dyes for paper, botanical inks, earth pigment crayons, and handmade watercolors. Each material holds stories of connection with place, plants, and communities of Philly. Everyone will create a collection of works on paper using materials that are rooted in nature and made by hand.
Autumn Ink @ Morris Arboretum
Saturday, October 19
Morris Arboretum and Garden
Explore the Morris and identify sources of color that can be used to make botanical inks from petals, leaves, drupes, and roots of the autumn season! After a plant walk, we will get to work making our own ink for drawing and fine writing, made from natural materials foraged in fall. Bottle sensory experiences and connection with nature together, then experiment with shifting the color of our own handcrafted ink to create a plant-based color palette for drawing, printmaking, and fine writing with dip pens and brushes.
You will leave with a small bottle of black walnut ink as well as a bottle of your own ink, your drawings or ink samples created in class, and a reference zine. Meet at the Welcome Center before heading out to explore the Wetland.