The Regenerative Earth Collective is a student-led group that works towards regenerative land care and community education. We support students in ethical, inclusive, and environmentally responsible creative practices. We give the opportunity and accessibility for hands-on environmental engagement, understanding of cyclical ecosystems. Our objective is to inform and educate students about conscious material usage, “waste” in their practices, and methods of reciprocal care between land and people, and make alternative material use more attainable. We operate out of a public garden, open to all on the RISD campus, and through workshops at the RISD Nature Lab, accessible through their website.
Located at 4 Defoe Place on the occupied land of the Narragansett and Wampanoag Peoples.
WORKSHOPS
HOSTED AND FACILITATED BY THE RISD NATURE LAB
(13 Waterman St, Providence, RI 02903)
Each semester, we put on several workshops and events for students. We advertise workshops through our newsletter, blog and instagram. Since REC’s first workshops in 2021, we learned a LOT about organization, what works and what needs to change, and how thirsty you all are for education around plants! We put on workshops about indigo, flax, bundle dyes, soil health, wool, and we have SO many more ideas in store. Our workshops are completely free, and open to all students from RISD and the surrounding community. If you would like to bring us in to give a demo to a class, let us know!
FLAX
REC Event coordinator, Abbey Foreman, led the flax processing and spinning workshop using the beautiful flax grown at the plot over the summer! Prepping the flax to be spun has been a long but very rewarding process, as seen in our last newsletter, and each attendee got to break, scutch, hackle and spin their own flax, turning the amazing fiber into linen yarn! All of the flax boon (waste material) will contribute to the garden as brown matter in our compost!
INDIGO VAT
The Indigo has been processed! What started as a seed grew into a lovely bed of healthy indigo, was then picked, fermented in buckets, reduced, strained, and dried by our summer managers before being stored away for the colder months. In the last days of spring we host a garden indigo night where students bring clothes and textiles to dye. It’s usually the most attended event of the year!
FRESH LEAF INDIGO DYING
After two harvests of indigo for fermentation and pigment making, we decided to try some fresh-leaf dying with the indigo we’re letting go to seed. After blending, straining and soaking cotton fabrics and yarns in the mixture, REC members added smashed flowers and berries to test out their vibrant stains! Indigo always brings a lot of excitement to the plot!
SEAWEED DYING
A huge thanks to the nature lab and Sashoonya for hosting and teaching this incredible workshop! Participamts learned how to responsibly forage seaweed and other coastal dwelling plants, and make vibrant eco-print bundle dyes on silk. There were laughs and lovely conversations. Thanks to eveyone who came out!
WOOL
Our two wonderful wool enthusiasts, Abbey Foreman (TX 25) and Clara Peterson (TX 25) led a three part workshop series where participants learned how to wash, skirt, card, spin, and finally naturally dye wool! It was a joy bringing students from all departments into the wonders of natural fibers. We were also lucky enough to be joined by two experts from the Rhode Island Spinners Guild! Sandy and Sharon brought their years of experience working with wool and processing raw fibers into textiles, as well as some amazing fiber processing tools we wouldn’t have had access to without them.
FRESH GARDEN PASTA NIGHT
To celebrate the end of the harvest season, REC community members gathered at the RISD Multicultural Center to prepare a homemade feast! We kneaded pasta dough from scratch, added in layers of garden herbs into the dough, and served the pasta with a tomato, tomatillo and basil sauce. We look forward to more heartworming events that bring people together over food and excitement for regenerative projects!
SEED STARTING DAYS
Thank you to everyone who came out to help start seeds for spring and summer of 2024! We hold around 3 seed starting days each year in late winter and early spring. All RISD students are welcome to join and to suggest new plants for the garden. This year we are lucky enough to be able to use our brand new greenhouse to keep the seeds warm!
PAINT AND PIGMENT MAKING
Students learned about how to turn a dye into a pigment (a process called laking), and how to turn those pigments into different forms of paint! We got to see some chemistry in action and to sample different pigments made from foraged, purchased, and farmed pigments.
WORKDAYS
In the fall and spring semesters, we have gardening days and meetings, open to all within and outside of RISD. These are usually held on Sunday mornings from 11am to 1pm, though people are free to stop by whenever they can. We will send word out by email and post on instagram each week it is happening, and monthly/bimonthly newsletters show all the work done by REC community members at these workdays.
We welcome any and all RISD and Brown students to contribute to the collective. Whether you have no hands on experience in a garden or an affinity for veggies, soil health, dye plants, fiber processing, compost systems or just hanging with a sweet community, we’d love to see you!
We are also excited to welcome any other ideas as to how you want to get involved in REC. Don’t hesitate to approach us with ideas about how you want to be a part of our community. We’re all here to help each other learn.
Faculty, administration, staff, we would love your participation and involvement in growing our community! Spreading the word and talking about us in your classes is one easy way to help. You all are welcome at our volunteer days and we are open to involving your class in the garden, whether it be a visit, drawing in the garden, growing something for your class, hosting us as guest speakers, installing a project, and more. Reach out to us if you are interested in collaborating and we can start discussions.
We accept donations in any form, such as seeds, seedlings, plant pots, garden tools, resource books, dye tools and materials, and monetary donations. If you would like to make a donation, please reach out to regenerativearth@risd.edu, and thank you in advance!
DYE & FIBER GARDEN
ALL DYES AND FIBERS ARE HAND PROCESSED BY GARDEN MANAGERS TO BE USED IN TEXTILES WORKS AND WORKSHOPS SUCH AS: NATURAL PAINT AND PIGMENT MAKING, INDIGO VAT DYING, SCREEN PRINTING, MENDING GATHERINGS, FLAX SPINNING, MULBERRY PAPER MAKING, AND MORE
CURRENTLY RUN BY CLARA PETERSON (TEXTILES 2025)
GARDEN GALLERIES
+ STUDENT WORK
SUBMIT YOUR WORK TO US!
We are on the look out for students who work with topics related to the REC’s core values and interests. This can be work about natural dyes and fibers, biomaterials, plants, regenerative design, sustainable design, water health, soil health, social justice and food justice, the list is endless. If you want to be featured here on our website and on our instagram, just email us!We also have loved holding student exhibitions in the garden in late spring, hopefully this can be an annual event. We will email our mailing list a form for exhibition submissions.
Students wanting to hold crit/leave artwork at the garden MUST request a permit in advance from facilities and email us with your proposal, otherwise lots of artwork that doesn’t decompose well gets left behind.
Pei-Yu Hung, Industrial Design, 2024
Shroom Stool
Mycellium, steel
Made with mycellium grown around the steel structure. This piece imagines the relation between the human sitting and the plants and organism that grows around it.
Jennifer Choi, Furniture Design MFA, 2025
Be Holding
Glazed stoneware
This piece was slipcast and created using a system of modular molds. The four individual pieces come from the same family of molds and have kinship with one another. The work is glazed on one side and painted vibrant color gradients on the other. Due to the two distinct sides, visitors are invited to interact with the pieces by holding them and turning them over. There is an element of reveal and surprise as you view the underside of the pieces. The process of unearthing and observing them is akin to discovering seashells or rocks in nature. My hope is to display the pieces directly on the land, rather than on a plinth as they were initially photographed. The placement creates direct kinship with the land, as if the pieces emerged from the base of a tree on their own.
Anoushka Chaudhuri, Furniture Design, 2026
Cave Table
Curly Maple and Fabric Dye
This piece aims to embrace the oddities and natural irregularities of mineral deposits and underground cave structures. Hand-carved to mimic stalactites and stalagmites, the curly maple structure forms an open table top of asymmetrical web systems. While designing the Cave Table, it became crucial to consider the lack of need for a table within a natural structure that in itself provides myriads of naturally-formed facets and nooks that may act as shelves or surfaces for storage. Therefore, form rather than functionality was prioritised for this object. To echo the darker hues of slate, stone and particular minerals—such as Augite, Basalt and Hornblende—abundant within caves, an organic fabric dye was applied to stain the table’s carved exterior. Nature is not meant to facilitate ease of human existence, though it does so perfectly under miscellaneous circumstances. This table, by extension, hoped to capture the striking irregularity of natural forms while rendering a—traditionally, mostly—purely functional object into one with a primarily aesthetic agenda.
Akita Bhat, Furniture Design, 2026
Ours to Share
Domestic red oak, stained with iron oxide, finished in water based polyurethane and sealed in liming wax
Ours to Share is a table inspired by the trees and a pair of mated ducks in the Japanese Garden of Roger Williams Park. My partner and I love feeding the ducks so the table provides an intermediary between us all. The rich blue colour comes a naturally derived chemical stain or iron oxide. Made to be weathered, and made to be outdoors, this table invites both human and non-human to come have a peek and stay awhile.
Meri Sanders, Textiles, 2026
Repository For Sharing
Bamboo, wool dyed with acorn, cutch, logwood, and marigold.
This double-woven set of placemats joined together by loose warp is made from natural fibers and dyes and is a meeting place for two people. A set of placemats constructed to not be separated, encouraging meals to be shared. The imagery on these placemats is reminiscent of garden beds with one side representing the soil and the other being what is grown.
Claire Sheih, Painting, 2026
Icarus (a worm ascending)
Natural beeswax and candlewick
Icarus is a hand-dipped candle that mimics a worm burrowing out of soil. It creates kinship with the earth both in terms of the natural beeswax material it is made from, and the form of the worm, a creature that both nourishes the earth and takes nourishment from the earth. The candle will be lit on opening night, and snuffed afterwards. This piece explores the idea of ascension, of leaving realms of safety and familiarity. As we exit our sphere of comfort, do we burn and melt, or is it possible to strive for roles which we were not meant to fill? Can a worm thrive above ground?
Maggie McCreery, Furniture Design, 2026
Garden Bedside Table
Maple, Indigo pigment harvested and processed by REC gardeners, 100% pure Tung Oil, moss
This table was built as an act of care towards the Regenerative Earth Collective Student Garden. Hugging a garden bed during warm seasons and rooted to the path with little soil compaction, the table provides storage for the harvest. Drainage holes and bug trails encourage the interaction of non-human elements. The piece is stained with 100% pure Tung Oil and indigo pigment, a dye plant crucial to the REC Garden’s history and grown, harvested, and processed by the REC 2023 summer garden managers. The Tung Oil and Beeswax finish invites pollinators and eventual (though not expedited) decay to the wood.
Roxy Bridges, Textiles, 2025
Vessel to Hold
Secondhand wood Newspaper Racks, Naturally Dyed Wool and Cotton Yarn, Red Cotton Yarn
This reversible vessel allows one to explore the Landscape and collect any items they discover, but when flipping it to be used as a stool the items must then spill out and be returned to the Land.
Orion Jaime, Ceramics, 2025
Monsoon
Porcelain, hand made ceramic bead, faux suede
The end of summer in Arizona is concluded by monsoons, in my piece I mixed various glazes to convey the dark and vibrant atmosphere of the rainy season. As an admirer of desert plant life/ wild life I am aware of the necessity of rain, and I find beauty in monsoon phenomena.
Angelina Filgueiras, Ceramics, 2026
A Funerary Lion for a Bunny
High fire stoneware, gems, soda firing
Inspired by funerary lions found in Ancient Greek tombs. The history behind the lions were made to show off wealth and status “being above the land/people around them”. I made in turn a funerary lion for a dead bunny. I had been seeing him around my home just coming out for spring this year, however it got too cold and he died. Their life was short lived but a small gesture of remembering and placing value in the small critters around us is important. We are not about the animals around us we are in relation with them.
Louis Nishimura, Furniture Design, 2026
Feast
Bioplastics, Plywood, String
Feast reflects the decay that ecosystems depend on. The skeletal structure combined with the flesh-like bioplastics evokes the imagery of a whale fall. By falling to the bottom of the ocean, the carcass of a whale acts as a catalyst for growth for deep sea scavengers, who in turn feed many more creatures. It is a reminder that no form is permanent, and that decay is often another form of growth. As someone who has lived in Rhode Island my whole life I’ve seen both the natural and urban landscape change gradually over the years: in my neighborhood I remember the asphalt sidewalks warping and cracking from escaped tree roots when I was growing up. In the valleys between the cracks water pooled and mosquitoes would lay their eggs. A few years ago the asphalt was ripped up and replaced with cement. It was easier to walk on and there were less mosquitoes to bite, but it is only a matter of time before the roots spread out from their claustrophobic plots again. I would like my city to not stifle growth in a temporary bid for control, but rather guide it in a way that enhances both the survival of the natural environment and quality of life of the people living in it.
Orion Jaime, Ceramics, 2025
Rain for the Agave and Mesquite
Porcelain, hand made ceramic bead, faux suede
Late summer in Arizona is monsoon season, the desert is illuminated by lightening and the sky pours down inches of rain. Rain for the Agave and Mesquite reflects the divine power that water holds to all life in the desert.
Rain for the Agave and Mesquite
Porcelain, hand made ceramic bead, faux suede
Late summer in Arizona is monsoon season, the desert is illuminated by lightening and the sky pours down inches of rain. Rain for the Agave and Mesquite reflects the divine power that water holds to all life in the desert.
David Schwimmer, Furniture Design, 2025
Abbey Foreman, Textiles, 2025
Sun, Ceramics, 2026
Chamber to Chamber
Ceramics
Ceramic work, especially terracotta is quite literally family to dirt. However, I see my ceramic pieces almost as aliens to the land. They may be from the same substance, but the materials of the clay had to be mined, dried, packaged, sold, rehydrated, then finally be molded then fired at temperatures only dirt from a foreign wasteland would ever endure. My work is nothing like the dirt, but it understands it is family. So it will sit with them, collecting water and giving it back. It was chemically and permanently changed in the firing process, so it can never be dirt again.
Chamber to Chamber
Ceramics
Ceramic work, especially terracotta is quite literally family to dirt. However, I see my ceramic pieces almost as aliens to the land. They may be from the same substance, but the materials of the clay had to be mined, dried, packaged, sold, rehydrated, then finally be molded then fired at temperatures only dirt from a foreign wasteland would ever endure. My work is nothing like the dirt, but it understands it is family. So it will sit with them, collecting water and giving it back. It was chemically and permanently changed in the firing process, so it can never be dirt again.
Michelle Peterson
Tiny Fireworks Planter
Crystal Glaze Ceramics
This vessel serves as a home to a plant with the draining saucer built into the form. Making these slowly and by hand give plant pots new life since they are typically produced without such.
Dylan Tescher W.
Tethered #1
Steel, Misc. textile
Tethered No 1 is a 6 foot tall semi-permanent sculpture sketch made of metal and miscellaneous fabric collage. The piece embodies themes of eco-tonality in its dualisms of self - community, and of material - time. The kite-like panel itself, inspired by an assortment of Ann Hamilton’s drawings, pays homage to the earth around it through textile driven topography and is stretched, torn, and mended, as a sort of reflexive commentary on the wind and it’s mark on the earth below.
Tiny Fireworks Planter
Crystal Glaze Ceramics
This vessel serves as a home to a plant with the draining saucer built into the form. Making these slowly and by hand give plant pots new life since they are typically produced without such.
Dylan Tescher W.
Tethered #1
Steel, Misc. textile
Tethered No 1 is a 6 foot tall semi-permanent sculpture sketch made of metal and miscellaneous fabric collage. The piece embodies themes of eco-tonality in its dualisms of self - community, and of material - time. The kite-like panel itself, inspired by an assortment of Ann Hamilton’s drawings, pays homage to the earth around it through textile driven topography and is stretched, torn, and mended, as a sort of reflexive commentary on the wind and it’s mark on the earth below.
Sarah Holloway
Bench
Wood and fabrics
Bench
Wood and fabrics
Jan Rybczynski, Furniture Design
Mossy Bench
Ash Wood
A few years ago I found myself in Pacific North West, a part of the United States full of immense ecological diversity. Through my interaction with those lively environments, I quickly fell in love with the grandeur of the forests and the species that inhabit them. Fascinated by the vast and intensely rich ecosystems, I set out to create a bench mimicking the naturally occurring forms I find striking in those ancient maritime forests. Carved in its entirety, I invite you to interact with a snapshot of my memory and experience.
Mossy Bench
Ash Wood
A few years ago I found myself in Pacific North West, a part of the United States full of immense ecological diversity. Through my interaction with those lively environments, I quickly fell in love with the grandeur of the forests and the species that inhabit them. Fascinated by the vast and intensely rich ecosystems, I set out to create a bench mimicking the naturally occurring forms I find striking in those ancient maritime forests. Carved in its entirety, I invite you to interact with a snapshot of my memory and experience.
Casey Merkle
Map of the Woonasquatucket river
Textile, Watercolor, Thread, Handmade paper from plankton tows in the Woonasquatucket river
The transitional period for aquatic life is embedded in this piece. They live in a compromised environment floating in the waters of the Woonasquatucket, due to factory waste that was dumped here during the industrial revolution. Yet, life is resilient and continues on spring after spring, and the shape of the river has changed with it. This piece was created with handmade paper from the water at different sites along the Woonasquatucket River, to see what microscopic life lives below the surface.
Map of the Woonasquatucket river
Textile, Watercolor, Thread, Handmade paper from plankton tows in the Woonasquatucket river
The transitional period for aquatic life is embedded in this piece. They live in a compromised environment floating in the waters of the Woonasquatucket, due to factory waste that was dumped here during the industrial revolution. Yet, life is resilient and continues on spring after spring, and the shape of the river has changed with it. This piece was created with handmade paper from the water at different sites along the Woonasquatucket River, to see what microscopic life lives below the surface.
2.5 Mid Cohort
Mid24
Metal, Wood, Compost, Seed bombs
A time capsule/garden that has digital and physical components. The physical counterpart is a perennial garden that we will tend and care for over the next two years. The Möbius strip-inspired garden bed features handmade metal flowers as well as seed bombs of Rhode Island native wildflowers.
The digital component celebrates the development of our design practices from initial planting to flourishing harvest. We want to underline the work and care it takes to cultivate a thoughtful approach to design, which we are manifesting through purposeful documentation of our work throughout the program on our website.
Frank Dallas
Ebb
Bent mahognay veneer with polished wax finish, wool
This is a piece inspired by the curves of decaying natural elements. Cotton seed pods past their prime follow the same path to decay as drying leaves. This piece is made of veneer, with non-toxic glue, and un-dyed, knitted wool. At the end of its life, the veneers will split, continuing its curving independent of one another, and the wool will decompose, slowly unravelling. The piece's main goal is to encourage interaction with the cycle of decay by using the language and forms of decomposition.
Jaden Bleier
Ebb and Flow
Cyanotype on Polyester
This installation piece combines the industrial polyester with the natural process of the cyanotype. Using the sun (and snow, for a textured pattern) to dye the artificial fabric places a juxtaposition between the two modes of construction of the piece – the first interior and factory-based and the second conditional on the exterior environment. The two sheets made in this way are then layered to highlight the unpredictability of the cyanotype dying process.
Ebb and Flow
Cyanotype on Polyester
This installation piece combines the industrial polyester with the natural process of the cyanotype. Using the sun (and snow, for a textured pattern) to dye the artificial fabric places a juxtaposition between the two modes of construction of the piece – the first interior and factory-based and the second conditional on the exterior environment. The two sheets made in this way are then layered to highlight the unpredictability of the cyanotype dying process.
Maxwell Fertik
Greenwich Stool
Locally sourced walnut
Crafted from a fallen walnut tree sourced by Greg Mastors in the woods of West Greenwich, RI, this piece is a walnut stool for grounding and finding home. The tree fell in a microburst storm in 2017 and Greg was able to mill and kiln dry a handful of slabs, one of which Max was able to get his hands on. All the joinery was done by hand. As someone who grew up less than a mile from where this tree fell, I feel a certain kinship to these woods that I played in as a child, despite existing on stolen Narragansett land. By taking the radical measure of finding eco-effectively sourced wood, this piece exists within and between ecosystems, cultivating exchange and opportunity.
Madeleine Young
Re-enchantment In Restoration
Writings and drawings on unbleached cotton, iron oxide and india ink
This project is a set of short writings and drawings looking at the disturbed ecosystem at Fisherville Mill (Grafton, MA) as a contextual door into the broader topic of restoration. The writing is a questioning of the concept of restoration and proposes an approach to restoration based on concepts of ‘disengardening’ and 're-enchantment’. This disturbance sets a new playing field, an opportunity for new encounters, and even in a damaged ecosystem, life is still in abundance. The drawings are visual support to the text, exploring the material of iron oxide stain and the concept of ecological entanglement and time through imagery of wheels, circles, and current plants, invasive and native, that exist at Fisherville Mill today.
Jasmine Gutbrod
Tiidepool Collection
Ceramic (Stonewear)
An exploration into digital ceramics, testing the textural and formal capabilities of digital fabrication in order to subtly reference patterns from nature. The pieces are nested in the raised beds like vegetables.
MEET THE CURRENT TEAM
GENERAL GARDEN MANAGER - ANY PRONOUNS
MMCCREER@RISD.EDU / @MAGGIE.MCCY
Maggie is a furniture student (BFA ‘26) with a concentration in Nature-Culture-Sustainability. They have a passion for ethical material sourcing, regenerative agriculture and soil sciences and have been farming with small-scale organic farms since 2021. They are excited to spread the joy of thoughtful gardening to the RISD community through workshops on sustainable building materials, sharing a love for veggies, and hands-on work days!
EVENT COORDINATOR - SHE/HER
AFOREMAN@RISD.EDU / @_ABBEYFOREMAN
Abbey is a textiles student (BFA ‘25) concentrating in Nature-Culture-Sustainability and Computer-Technology-Culture. She is interested in natural dyes, natural fibers, and teaching. Having worked as an elementary teacher for the past three years much of her work has been informed by collaboration and education. Her practice is based in exploring sustainable methods of creation, practicality, and reciprocity of knowledge. She is excited about natural colors, wool fleeces, and late spring days.
DYE GARDEN MANAGER - SHE/HER
CPETERSO@RISD.EDU
Clara is a textiles student (BFA ‘25). She is interested in exploration, portability, and how human scale is experienced in landscapes, which is informed by environmental conservation work, WWOOFing, and thru hiking. She appreciates the garden as a place of gathering, and is excited to work with fibers and dyes to spread knowledge about sustainability in a textiles practice, and how to create with less excess.
SUMMER TEAM & FORMER MANAGERS
DAVID SCHWIMMER
CURRENT SUMMER GARDEN MANAGER
FURNITURE DESIGN 2025
CURRENT SUMMER GARDEN MANAGER
FURNITURE DESIGN 2025
ANKITA BHAT
CURRENT SUMMER GARDEN MANAGER
FURNITURE DESIGN 2026
CURRENT SUMMER GARDEN MANAGER
FURNITURE DESIGN 2026
AYA BORUCKI
FORMER GENERAL GARDEN MANAGER
ILLUSTRATION 2023
FORMER GENERAL GARDEN MANAGER
ILLUSTRATION 2023
CLARA BOBERG
FORMER EVENT COORDINATOR, DYE GARDEN FOUNDER
TEXTILES 2023
FORMER EVENT COORDINATOR, DYE GARDEN FOUNDER
TEXTILES 2023
ELIZA GOODWIN
FORMER 2023 SUMMER MANAGER
CERAMICS AND ILLUSTRATION 2026
FORMER 2023 SUMMER MANAGER
CERAMICS AND ILLUSTRATION 2026
ANNI WIEDERHOLD
FORMER 2023 SUMMER MANAGER
TEXTILES 2025
FORMER 2023 SUMMER MANAGER
TEXTILES 2025
VIVIAN CAO
FORMER 2023 SUMMER MANAGER
TEXTILES 2025
FORMER 2023 SUMMER MANAGER
TEXTILES 2025
CRISTIANE MARIE CARO
CO-FOUNDER CO-LEADER
FURNITURE DESIGN
CO-FOUNDER CO-LEADER
FURNITURE DESIGN
SANTI ALVARADO
FORMER GENERAL GARDEN MANAGER
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 2024
CHELSEA DAI
CO-FOUNDER CO-LEADER
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
CO-FOUNDER CO-LEADER
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
OUR BEGINNING
First established in the freshmen dorm courtyard by student Lauren Smith in 2008, the RISD student garden served as a healing and educational space. Growth in student interest first led to the formation of the RISD Garden Club and the relocation and expansion of the garden to 48 Waterman Street in 2012. As of 2019, the RISD Garden Club evolved into the Regenerative Earth Collective and founded The RISD Plot at 4 Defoe Place, and as of 2021 has incorporated a dye garden and beekeeping.