Sunday, May 19th, 12:00-3:00 pm ET Register HERE for Art in the Garden’s free 2024 Spring Festival Activities include the unveiling of two beautiful collaborative murals that Art in the Garden families created with artist Sandra Moore, a Flow Class with Princes Gonzalez and Jodi Iddings, music with GLO-TREE, Origami Fidget Pops with Takeela Washington from Sensory Superpowers, brick oven hot pretzel making, Felting Pebble Wishes with Julie Strang-Tryc, Storytelling with Scott Buchanan, planting in the garden, Sweet_Shop with Shaniqua Stribling, Native Plant Sale with Phyto Bello, free books from Reading is Fundamental, and more!  We welcome donations to support our ongoing Youth Programs. Spring Festival is supported by OMA Center for Mind, Body and Spirit, Borland Garden, Spak Brothers Pizza, Grow Pittsburgh, Reading is Fundamental, and Allegro Hearth Bakery.

2024 Spring FLOW CLUB Led by Jodi Iddings and Princes Gonzalez, students in Flow Club have opportunities to connect to their physical bodies and internal energies. The mission of Flow Club at Borland Garden is to hold space for students to express themselves through mindful movement and poetry, while simultaneously deepening their appreciation for nature and their community. Youth are empowered to tap into who they truly are and become leaders and creators of positive change. Our students will leave with a tight-knit community whom they know truly care for them. Flow Club is offered in Spanish and English. WHO: Kids Ages 9-15; WHEN: Every Wednesday, April 3rd-May 8th 5:00-6:30 in Borland Garden.

Dirigidos por Jodi Iddings y Princes González, los estudiantes de Flow Club tienen oportunidades de conectarse con sus cuerpos físicos y energías internas. La misión de Flow Club en Borland Garden es brindar un espacio para que los estudiantes se expresen a través del movimiento consciente y la poesía, al mismo tiempo que profundizan su aprecio por la naturaleza y su comunidad. Los jóvenes tienen el poder de aprovechar quiénes son realmente y convertirse en líderes y creadores de cambios positivos. Nuestros estudiantes se irán con una comunidad muy unida, que saben que realmente se preocupa por ellos. Flow Club se ofrece en español e inglés. QUIEN: Adolescentes 9-15; CUÁNDO: Miércoles 3 de Abril de Mayo 8, 2024. Registro AQUÍ.

2023 In Fall Flow Club, led by Jodi Iddings and Princes Gonzalez, teens had opportunities to express themselves through hula hooping, dance, and yoga and to deepen their appreciation for the outdoors. “Flow” is a way to move your body in fluidity, expressing yourself through movement without limitations; it is a way to bring you back to the center of yourself and your life. Teens are empowered to become confident leaders and to experience themselves as creators of positive change, gaining life skills that carry them far beyond their teen years. Flow Club is offered in Spanish and English. WHO: Ages 8-15 / WHEN: Thursdays October 12 through November 16th; 5- 6:30 pm

En Flow Club, los adolescentes tienen oportunidades de expresarse a través del hula-hoop, el baile y el yoga y de profundizar su aprecio por el aire libre. “Flow” es una forma de mover tu cuerpo con fluidez, expresándote a través del movimiento sin limitaciones; es una forma de devolverte al centro de ti mismo y de tu vida. Los adolescentes están capacitados para convertirse en líderes seguros y sentirse a sí mismos como creadores de cambios positivos, adquiriendo habilidades para la vida que los llevarán mucho más allá de la adolescencia. Flow Club se ofrece en español e inglés. Este club se desarrolla al aire libre en un jardín urbano. QUIEN: 8-15 / CUANDO:Jueves 12 de Octubre-16 de Noviembre; 5- 6:30 pm

2023 FALL FESTIVAL Our annual FREE Fall Festival in Borland Garden was held on Saturday, October 28th from 12-3. We celebrated with Afro-Latin Percussion and Dance with Miguel Sague III, pumpkin carving with pumpkins from Soergel Orchards, Screen printing with the Andy Warhol Museum, hula hooping and flow with Jodi Iddings and Princes Gonzalez, s’mores around the campfire, hot pretzel making in the garden’s brick oven, Hazelnut tree planting and exploring fall seeds with Tree Pittsburgh, bulb planting, stone soup and storytelling, Sensory Superpowers led by Takeela Washington, Mindful Eating and Positivity Board with the Hafeman Lab, and more! Costumes welcome. If you like, bring a vegetable for stone soup. Sponsored by Tree Pittsburgh, Soergel Orchards, The East End Food Co-Op, Whole Foods, Home Depot, The Andy Warhol Museum, Spak Brothers and The Heinz Endowments.

OMA Pittsburgh’s Art in the Garden invests in the resiliency and social-emotional development of youth. To care for the health of all involved, and to prevent the spread of covid-19, Art in the Garden’s winter and spring sessions were virtual and included free weekly meals. Through these programs, we are committed to helping to meet the needs of your family.  

2020 Fall Clay Project & 2021 Winter Clay Project & 2021 Spring clay project (Virtual Family Camp): Let’s Make a Mural!

“Joy is an act of resistance.” –Toi Derricotte

Led by The Clay Project teaching artists Sandra Moore, Kamryn Randall and Shawn Terrell, families and individuals created a series of community-made ceramic murals in these six-week virtual after-school programs. Participants in these all-skill and all-ages classes learned the basics and developed more advanced skills making coils, stamping, pinching, doing slab work and 3D additive and subtractive processes, and assemblage. Participants also had the opportunity to create one-of-a-kind glaze-fired clay pieces including as coil pots, pinch pots, ornamental tiles, and a broomstick jar. Cost: sliding scale. The mural will be displayed at Borland Garden, which is open to the public.

EACH WEEK FAMILIES RECEIVED: 

• A Camp Kit (with all of the supplies needed for mural making class including clay and tools)
• Virtual classes where campers can create together with teaching artists and new and old friends alike *contact-free pick up available
• A free book of your choice from Reading is FUNdamental
• Free weekly meals from Earthen Vessels and masks 

FALL Festival

Fall Festival is an annual community celebration at Borland Garden in East Liberty. All are welcome!

Activities for Fall Festival 2021 included pumpkin carving and decorating, s’mores making, pretzel shaping and baking in a wood fired oven, festive photo stand, free books from Reading is FUNdamental, lighting of carved pumpkins. This event was set up mindfully to assure social distancing.

Activities for Fall Festival 2020 included traditional Storytelling with Lenora “Lee” Dingus, Haudenosaunee/ Seneca Nation, and art making, ecology, and yoga! This event was set up mindfully to assure social distancing. Social distancing and masks required. Free masks available. This was a kick-off event for Fall Programming with The Clay Project.

Please check out A Day at Art in the Garden, a reflective document through the words of 2021 Art in the Garden campers and the Newsletter created by 2021 Teen Counselors.

VIDEO SHORTS 2020

At Home with Ecology: Each week, camper and their families gain access to a short video that prompts new ways of thinking about and relating to the natural world, expanding their awareness through simple exercises and activities. Sample videos: Connecting to the Earth; Climate Change: We Are Told.

Yoga: Each week, campers and their families gain access to a short yoga video. These videos support your child (and you!) in developing strength and coordination as well as bodily awareness. Being aware of sensations and feelings in our bodies increases our ability to self-regulate intense emotions, reduces stress and conflict, and enables us to feel healthier and happier.

Meditation: Each week, campers and their families gain access to a short meditation video. We practice various kinds of meditation including sitting meditation, walking meditation, laughing meditation, and eating meditation. Why do we meditate? When we meditate, we are more easily able to get in touch with whatever is happening right now and accept it as it is: the warm breeze on our face, the scrape on our knee, the sound of someone’s voice, whatever we’re feeling. Doing this helps us to experience our true nature, to love and accept ourselves just the way we are. As we grow in acceptance and compassion for ourselves, we grow in acceptance and compassion for others as well. Sample videos: Laughing Meditation; Mindful Moment: Gratitude; Bubble Meditation.