A collaboration with the Green Ambassadors

Summer 2012
Thompson Island, MA
Client: Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Materials: Invasive plant material (Phragmites and Oriental Bittersweet) and fallen branches.
Dimensions: 15′ x 12′ x 3′
Made in collaboration with Green Ambassadors – Boston Area high school students, age 15-18.

Hands rise out of the field and represent the legacy of Thompson Island’s hands-on education, and symbolize the work that Island Ambassadors and Green Corps youth staff contribute to the Boston Harbor Islands.  Invasive plants are abundant on the Boston Harbor Islands, and volunteers and staff are constantly removing these plants to maintain native plant populations, biodiversity, and rich ecosystems.

Often, these plants are put in giant debris piles to compost over time. These can often be eyesores, and using invasive plant material as a medium for sculpture is a positive alternative. Hands Up offers a look at our world through the lens of re-imagining our excess as potential material with which we can create something relevant.