Harvest
A collaboration of urban farming and public art » Una colaboración entre huertas urbanas y arte público
About the project
The Harvest project is a collaboration of HarborArts and Eastie Farm—a grassroots initiative dedicated to growing food, building community, and caring for our natural world. Together, we’re using the power of public ARTivism to amplify this vital work. Eastie Farm takes a holistic, local approach to restoring and protecting our environment, addressing food insecurity, and reconnecting people with the land through hands-on education and sustainable practices.
The creative process begins in the community gardens, where neighbors of all ages—especially youth—are learning to grow food and care for plants, understand food systems, explore pollination and biodiversity, and advocate for sustainability and justice. These workshops are joined by professional artists to transform community ideas into professionally rendered, large-scale murals that reflect the values, culture, and hopes of the neighborhood.
Through this community-driven public art process, participants find their creative voice and help inspire future generations to protect the planet—starting right in their own backyard.
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El proyecto The Harvest es una colaboración entre HarborArts y Eastie Farm, una iniciativa comunitaria dedicada a cultivar alimentos, fortalecer lazos vecinales y cuidar de nuestro entorno natural. Juntos, estamos utilizando el poder del ARTivismo público para amplificar este trabajo tan importante. Eastie Farm adopta un enfoque holístico y local para restaurar y proteger el medio ambiente, combatir la inseguridad alimentaria y reconectar a las personas con la tierra mediante la educación práctica y prácticas sostenibles.
El proceso creativo comienza en los huertos comunitarios, donde vecinas y vecinos de todas las edades—especialmente jóvenes—aprenden a cultivar alimentos y cuidar las plantas, comprender los sistemas alimentarios, explorar la polinización y la biodiversidad, y abogar por la sostenibilidad y la justicia. A estos talleres se suman artistas profesionales, invitados por HarborArts, para transformar las ideas de la comunidad en murales de gran escala, realizados profesionalmente, que reflejan los valores y la cultura del vecindario.
A través de este proceso de arte público impulsado por la comunidad, las y los participantes encuentran su voz creativa e inspiran a las futuras generaciones a cuidar del planeta—empezando por su propio barrio.
Dig in
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Hands-on activities at Eastie Farm
Students in East Boston are getting their hands in the soil, caring for plants, investigating the life cycles of our food, and exploring the importance of pollinators, open space, biodiversity and food accessibility.
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Youth-driven ideation and design process
The students will also have the opportunity to participate in art activities and workshops that teach how we can use ARTivism to express our ideas and inspire positive action for our planet.
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Mural painting and art installations
The workshops are joined by local and international artists who work with the students to translate their ideas into thought-provoking imagery in the form of large-scale murals and installations. These monumental artworks at the schools will educate and inspire a new generation of environmental stewards and ARTivists.
2023 Activations
“Splash Pollinators” by Felipe Ortiz in collaboration with Alighieri students
Dante Alighieri Montessori School
In 2023, local muralist Felipe Ortiz collaborated with students at the Dante Alighieri Montessori School.
Felipe is a resident of East Boston, and as a Colombian-American ARTivist, he has a special connection with many of the students of a shared experience and heritage. This made him an excellent fit for the Harvest program. Felipe has extensive experience creating and facilitating workshops locally and internationally, and he hopes to continue to grow the Colombian connection through these collaborations.
Driven by the youth workshops at the school, the mural includes pollinators like humming birds and bees. The Beehive is a central theme of the Alighieri School, and Upper L students participated in the painting process by painting their own bee in the mural.
“Elephant” and “Flower” by Tom Bob for the Patrick J Kennedy School
Patrick J Kennedy School
Tom Bob hails from New Bedford Massachusetts, and his street art has become widely recognizable around the globe. Tom Bob’s transformations of objects—both seen and unseen—present an exciting opportunity to activate at the PJK school as they head into a long renovation and construction process. Tom Bob sees life and joy in utilitarian everyday things all around us. In drawing workshops with Tom Bob, students will reimagine their built environment around them, bringing objects to life with bright colors.
Tom Bob will install a series of his work around the school both indoors and outdoors, creating a treasure hunt of street art throughout the campus.
Harvest ARTivists
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FELIPE ORTIZ
East Boston
@felipeortizart -
GLEO
Colombia
@gleo_co -
GRIS ONE
Colombia
@grisone -
TOM BOB
New Bedford
@tombobnyc -
YENNYCREATE
Boston
@yennycreate -
HANIMAL
Colombia
@hanimal0088
Workshops
Murals
"AYOTE'S GARDEN" by GLEO (Colombia) 2022
“LA FUERZA DE POLINIZACIÓN” by GRIS ONE & Hanimal (Colombia) 2022
"TOGETHER WE GROW" by YennyCreate (Boston) 2022
“SPLASH POLLINATORS” by Felipe Ortiz (East Boston) 2023
“CORN ON THE COB” one of 8 transformed objects at PJK by Tom Bob (USA) 2023
Meet the Team
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Matt Pollock
Project Director
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Felipe Ortiz
Curator & Artist Team Lead
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Kannan Thiruvengadam
Founder & Director, Eastie Farm
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Heather O'Brien
Workshop Organizer
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Hanimal
Supporting Artist
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Edgar Dominguez
Videographer
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Ana Bess Moyer Bell
Teaching Artist
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Fellipe Ribeiro
Artist Assistant
We want to hear from you!
Love this project? Do you have suggestions to improve our process? Community feedback helps us create more impactful and sustainable public art efforts. Please let us know how you feel about the Harvest project by taking a short survey:
