March 2016 – Dwight Mickelson, lead artist for the Listening Garden at World Garden Commons, the pilot site of The Fargo Project, led a meeting of educators, engineers, landscape architects, artists and conservationists.

Dwight started the meeting with a listening experience using an audio clip recorded of the wildlife within a wetland near his home at sunset (Listen 1:57). He asked the group to listen for the exact moment the sun dipped below the horizon. To occupy their hands, and make a tactile connection to the conversation, he gave each person a leaf to hold, twist, stroke or shape the duration of the planning meeting.

Dwight and the multi-disciplinary group are challenged with developing activities and lessons to introduce students to the World Garden Commons site, prepare activities to inventory the environment, and introduce concepts of ecological restoration, stormwater management and natural play. The onsite activities will lead to a WeDesign Charrette engaging the creative forces of Fifth-Graders from Westside Elementary School this spring.

Charrette – collaborative, intense, and includes diverse group of participants focused to generate a solution.

Natural Play intuitive and unstructured, constructive (or deconstructive), and timeless, encouraging interaction with natural materials, features, indigenous vegetation, and creative landforms. Natural Play is often a blend of materials and experiences to create purposely complex interplays of natural and environmental objects.

Check back for updates on the activities at World Garden Commons and Westside Elementary.

Volunteers Needed! Can you lead/assist a 5th grade activity station outside at World Garden Commons on April 21 7:00AM-2:00PM? Contact Jessica at River Keepers (701) 235-2895 if interested.