Exploring Falls And Coakley Island With Grasse River Heritage

For the summer of 2025, I continued to develop my focus on bringing people together by learning about science through art. Thanks to a partnership with Grasse River Heritage and my grant writing skills, I was able to receive funding through the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council. What all of that official language translates to is thanks to state and local arts organizations, Grasse River Heritage, and I were able to offer some really cool programming.

To kick things off, Dr. Tom Langen led a small but engaged group around Falls Island, where we talked about everything from spittlebugs to ash trees and more. When we first gathered on Coakley Island, he pointed out a fledgling robin that was hanging out on the fence and being fed by their parents. I am terrible at photographing birds, but I made a cup inspired by them over the course of the summer.

While I worked on pottery at home, the fantastic Dan French of Nature Up North and I put together the second workshop for this series. We welcomed folks of all ages from around the North Country for a short and informative walk led by Dan, who equally impressed us with his knowledge of riparian zones as with his ability to simultaneously walk backwards and teach on a trail. Then, we headed back to the pavilion, where I had set up pre-thrown pots of all sizes for folks to decorate with plants they had gathered while on the walk. Families new to the area mingled with long-time residents while everyone learned about the process of ceramics and decorated the pot of their choice.

For the final workshop, Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Brad Pendergraft lent his expertise as a plant and tree enthusiast, as well as geologist and educator. We learned about the geology of Canton as well as the nearby Adirondacks. Brad brought his rock hammer to allow us to look at fresh surfaces of various rocks and everyone was fascinated!

After our walk, we headed over to the St. Lawrence County Center for History and Culture to check out some of their rock and mineral specimens and use watercolors to practice our observational art-making skills.

Special thanks to Trevor Blank for helping out and taking pictures at both the second and third events. Click on the right side of the main photos to move through the galleries.

This was a really fun series, and I look forward to planning and doing more work inspired by and building upon what was learned in 2025.