Thetis Fourli

On Tuesday, the Bowdoin Organic Garden (BOG) hosted two simultaneous workshops centered around organic dyes at the BOG barn at 12 Harpswell Rd. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about flower pounding, a printmaking technique, or tie-dye their own shirts with deep indigo hues.

Lisa Beneman, organic garden supervisor, said that although making art with organic products is  a component of these events, they are ultimately centered around gardening.

“I guess [the workshops] are totally about art and gardening,” Beneman said. “I don’t think of it as an art event. I think of it as a garden event. [To] me, art is [just a] part of it. This is an artistic expression of nature.”

The workshops did not require previous experience with gardening or dyes. The event started with an introduction by Beneman about the flowers and plants used for the dyeing processes. She said  that most of the flowers used are grown at the BOG, and some are provided and grown by Emily Bell-Hoerth, the BOG assistant and an event organizer. Beneman and Bell-Hoerth both shared their gardening expertise while attendees were dyeing different types of fabrics.

“[There are] great entry points to gardening, and art is one way or one avenue that might interest people,” Beneman said. “I think people don’t necessarily draw a connection between pigment and plants in the same way these days. People don’t always draw a connection between grocery stores and farms. A lot of the pigments that are used in paints and inks … still come from plants.”

Bell-Hoerth also noted that these workshops drew inspiration from events the BOG hosted last year but added new artistic components.

“We did a similar event last year that was super popular, and that led us to explore doing this again and then adding the piece of the indigo dye,” Bell-Hoerth said. “I’d love to start exploring other natural dye plants with folks…. When I’m not here, I’m working as an artist and art teacher. I really am passionate about that intersection and [am] excited to find ways in which people want to engage in the garden through an artistic lens.”

The BOG hopes that these events will increase student participation. Part of the BOG’s mission is to build community through workshops and events that bring together gardening enthusiasts and beginners.

“It’s only later in my life that I’ve really found this artistic overlap in the ways that natural dyes prompt you to use the creative side of your brain as well as that scientific side of your brain,” Beneman said. “I hope that maybe for students or people [who] like botany or [find] the science of the garden less compelling, events like this can draw folks who are more creatively minded or visually minded in.”

Students participating in the activities enjoyed the workshops, and both participants and facilitators of the workshops hope to make natural dye events a fall tradition. Selma Taylor ’28, an attendee, is excited to come to the BOG again.

“It was really cool to use nature as a form of art, and [the events] turned out good,” Taylor said. “I also have always loved flower pressing, and I do it a lot whenever I see pretty flowers. I really liked this aspect of it that is more permanent.”