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. The mural will be displayed at Borland Garden, which is open to the public.

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. Camp is FREE for all all families experiencing poverty. In order to create economic justice, we ask that families who can afford it make a donation to support the cost of this six-week program. We suggest $30 – $150 dollars per family.

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

Fall Festival is an annual community celebration at Borland Garden in East Liberty. 

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. All are welcome.

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. All are welcome.

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.