Paid Fellowship with The Boston Tree Party/Hybrid Vigor Projects
Dates: Now-Mid May
Stipend: $2,000
Hours/Location: Flexible. Much of the work can be done from home.
Contact:
Lisa Gross
Founder and Director
Hybrid Vigor Projects
617-909-9358
Lisa.Gross@gmail.com <http://Lisa%2EGross@gmail.com/>
The Boston Tree Party is a collaborative campaign to plant 100 pairs of
heirloom apple trees in publicly used spaces across Greater Boston. The
tree plantings will take place in partnership with a diverse range of
institutions, organizations, businesses, and communities.
As an urban agriculture project, the campaign will create vital
gathering places, build community connections, and improve community
health. As a conceptual art project, the Boston Tree Party engages with
metaphor and symbolism, and playfully reimagines patriotic and political
language, imagery, and forms of association.
Like the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Tree Party is a symbolic political
act. The project takes a stand for universal access to fresh, healthy
food; for greening our cities; cleaning our air and waterways; reducing
our city’s carbon footprint; creating habitat for urban wildlife; and
for protecting the biodiversity and heritage of our food. Collectively,
the 200 apple trees will become a decentralized public urban orchard
that crosses social, economic, political, and geographic boundaries.
The project will kickoff in the beginning of April with a large public
planting party/workshop, and it will culminate at the end of April with
the Boston Tree Party Convention—a celebratory gathering, and an
opportunity for participants and partners to form new connections, share
their work, and strategize next steps for improving community and
environmental health in the Greater Boston area. Michael Phillips and
John Bunker, two esteemed organic apple growing experts, will be guiding
the horticultural side of the project.
We are looking for a fun, smart, creative, and passionate individual to
help us start the Boston Tree Party revolution.We promise that you’ll
have lots of opportunities to learn and grow, meet amazing people, and
contribute in meaningful and substantive ways.We will work with you to
create a position that aligns with your strengths and supports your
goals and interests.
Role and Responsibilities:
— Organize and manage outreach to potential Tree Planting Delegations
(schools, faith communities, health centers, community centers,
businesses, etc.).
— Manage communications with participating Delegations.
— Organize and manage the logistics of the Tree Party Kit delivery.
— Organize and manage the Kickoff party and the Boston Tree Party
Convention.
— Support social networking for the project.
— Manage the distribution and collection of evaluation materials.
— General administrative support.
Skills and Expertise:
— A passion for engaging with community to bring about social change.
— Organized and detail-oriented.
–Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
— Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite.
— Project management experience required.
— PR or marketing experience preferred.
–Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team.
*A more detailed summary of the project and a list of selected project
advisors is provided below.*
The Boston Tree Party:
The Boston Tree Party is a collaborative campaign to plant 100 pairs of
heirloom apple trees in publicly used spaces across Greater Boston. The
tree plantings will take place in partnership with a diverse range of
institutions, organizations, businesses, and communities.
As an urban agriculture project, the campaign will create vital
gathering places, build community connections, and improve community
health. As a conceptual art project, the Boston Tree Party engages with
metaphor and symbolism, and playfully reimagines patriotic and political
language, imagery, and forms of association.
Like the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Tree Party is a symbolic political
act. The project takes a stand for universal access to fresh, healthy
food; for greening our cities; cleaning our air and waterways; reducing
our city’s carbon footprint; creating habitat for urban wildlife; and
for protecting the biodiversity and heritage of our food. Collectively,
the 200 apple trees will become a decentralized public urban orchard
that crosses social, economic, political, and geographic boundaries.
Apple trees must be planted in heterogeneous pairs (two different
varieties of apples must be planted together) in order to
cross-pollinate and bear fruit. Like these trees, we too are
interdependent and need to work across divisions to effectively address
the pressing social and environmental issues we face. The Boston Tree
Party will bring the city together in support of community and
environmental health, and will represent a commitment to the well-being
of future generations in Greater Boston.
The apple has a long and deep connection to the history of Boston. The
first apple orchard in the American Colonies was planted by William
Blackstone on Beacon Hill in 1623. The oldest variety of apple in the
United States, the Roxbury Russet, was developed in Roxbury in the
1630s. The Boston Tree Party will celebrate and recontextualize this
history and make Boston a city of apples once again.
Participating Tree Party Delegations (e.g. schools, hospitals,
universities, faith communities, businesses, non-profit organizations,
and other community groups) will each receive a Tree Party Kit that will
allow them to design and create their own festive Tree Planting
Parties. The campaign will kickoff in early April with a large public
Planting Party/workshop, and it will culminate at the end of April with
the Boston Tree Party Convention—a celebratory gathering, and an
opportunity for participants to form new connections, share their work,
and strategize next steps for improving community and environmental
health in the Greater Boston area.
The Apple Corps, a Youth Corps trained in organic fruit tree care and
horticulture, will act as an “extension service” for participating
Delegations and offer low cost tree care workshops in years two and
three. In the fourth year, the year of the first harvest, a city-wide
harvest festival will be organized
The goal for the Boston Tree Party is to catalyze a movement—a movement
that works across boundaries to make healthy, fresh food accessible to
all; a movement to green our cities; a movement that plants fruit trees
in public spaces all over the country; and a movement that comes
together to care for these trees and the well-being of all citizens.
A Selection of Project Advisors:
*Julian Agyeman*, /Chair of the Urban and Environmental Policy and
Planning Department/, Tufts University
*Danielle Andrews*, Community Food Coordinator, The Food Project
*Willow Blish*, /Chapter Leader/, Slow Food Boston
*John Bunker*, /Pomologist, Apple Historian, Coordinator/, FEDCO Trees
*Lisa Brukilacchio*, /Director/,Somerville Community Health Agenda,
Community Affairs Dept at Cambridge Health Alliance
*Nina Calabresi*, /Former Board President/, Earthworks
*Karen Chaffee*, /Stewardship Manager/, Boston Natural Areas Network
*Michael Chavez*, /Program Manager/, The Designery, YouthBuild Boston
*Eric Chivian*,/Founder and Director/, Center for Health and the Global
Environment, Harvard Medical School
*Marie Cieri**,* /Co-Director/, Artists in Context
*Dina Deitsch,* /Assistant Curator/, DeCordova Museum
*Rosanne Foley,* /Director/, Dorchester Environmental Health Coalition
*Kathleen Frith*, /Assistant Director, /Center for Health and the Global
Environment, Harvard Medical School
*Barbara Gallucci*, /Artist, Graduate Faculty/, School of the Museum of
Fine Arts
*Theaster Gates*, /Artist, Current Harvard Loeb Fellow/
*Pat Gray**,*/Consultant/, /Former Executive Director, /The Food Project
*Fritz Haeg*, /Artist, Creator, /Edible Estates Project
*Peter Hinrichs*, /Designer/Horticulturalist/, /Landscape Construction
Manager/, YouthBuild Boston
*Hugh Joseph*, /Research Associate/, Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition,
/Co-Founder,/Community Food Security Coalition, the Northeast
Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, the Northeast Food System
Partnership, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
*Jeff Kasowitz**,* /Director of Strategy/, City Year Inc.
*Mike Kissinger,* /Sustainable Services Coordinator/, Tech Networks of
Boston
*Jen Lawrence*, /Executive Director/, Groundwork Somerville
*Louisa McCall*, /Co-Director/, Artists in Context
*Lisa Monrose*, /Program Manager/, Lectures and Special Programs, Museum
of Science
*Stephen Moore*, /Director of Design and Sustainable Initiatives/, Map Lab
*Edith Murnane*, /Director of Food Initiatives/, City of Boston
*Galen Nelson*, GreenTech Business Manager, Boston Redevelopment Authority
*Michael Phillips*, /Apple Orchardist/, /Author/, _The Apple Grower: A
Guide for the Organic Orchardist_
*Nathan Phillips*, /Director, /Boston University Center for Energy and
Environmental Studies, /Associate Professor/, Department of Geography
and Environment, Boston University
*Rep. Denise Provost*, /Democratic State Representative/, Somerville, MA
*Julie Rawson*, Executive Director, Northeast Organic Farming
Association/Mass
*Brooke Redmond*, /Founding Executive Director, Current Director of
Communications and Development,/Farm Based Educators Network
*Charlie Rose*,/Senior Vice President and Dean, /City Year Inc.
*Meg Rotzel*, /Artist, Producer,/Artists‘ Residency and Public
Programs/, /MIT Office of the Arts, /Former Director/, Berwick Research
Institute
*Vanessa Rule*, /Board Member/, Massachusetts Climate Action, /Co-Head/,
Somerville Climate Action
*Francey Hart Slater*, /Outreach and Education Coordinator/, City Sprouts
*Karen Spiller*, /Project Director/, Boston Collaborative for Food and
Fitness
*Julie Stone*, /Director of Programs, /Boston Schoolyard Initiative
*Mary Ellen Strom*, /Artist/, /Graduate Faculty/, School of the Museum
of Fine Arts
*Andi Sutton*, /Artist, Co-founder and Member,/The National Bitter Melon
Council
*Bill Taylor*,/Founder, /Earthworks
*Ben Watson*, /Chairman/, Slow Food USA Biodiversity Committee,
/Director/, Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, /Consultant/, RAFT
Alliance, /Author/, _Cider, Hard and Sweet_
*Cammy Watts*, Director of Education and Advocacy, The Food Project
*Nicola Williams*, /President/, The Williams Agency, /Producer,/
Sustainable Business Network Boston Local Food Festival
