The Regenerative Earth Collective is a student-led group that works towards regenerative land care and community education. In my sophomore year at RISD, I fell in love with natural dyes and fibers and decided I needed to be a part of the entire life cycle of the materials I work with. There was small garden club on campus that was beginning to build a garden space, and I went to them with my idea on starting a dye garden. I started growing indigo, flax and other dye plants in a rocky plot where contstruction debree was dumped next to the garden plot, and thus began my journey into my growing and education practices.
Regenerative Earth Collective
From there, I began to host workshops, scrounging for materials so that I could make the classes free for everyone. I then took over as a co-leader of the collective where we grew our student body and following to become a fixture of the school. We secured paid work-study positions for student leaders, got running water installed, a tool shed, and became a part of the Nature Lab in order to secure the future of the collective beyond our graduations. This is more than a garden, it’s a community space, a group of people that come together to share knowledge, learn, grow life, and further their artist practices. I met many people that are dear to me through this experience, and it became a large part of my life and work during university. I led countless workshops and events and got to grow so much from it. For more on the Regenerative Earth Collective and to keep up to date with what’s going on today, go to https://risdregen.cargo.site/ .
Clara Hayong Boberg 