Puppets airborne, and hands in the soil, at Little Artshram summer camp

By Corin Blust
Sun contributor
The first thing that strikes me about the Community Garden in Traverse City is the creative ways that people have outfitted their respective garden plots. There are trellises made out of hula hoop-like wire structures, a lovely bean support made out of poles scavenged from the forest and an impressive variety of different vegetable and flower bed shapes and mulching styles. There are also loads of healthy-looking plants tended by members of our community.

It is inspiring to see such enthusiasm for gardening. In an era when it is normal for us to eat fast- or frozen food on a regular basis, it’s easy to forget that the carefully packaged items we put in our shopping carts did not just fall from the sky. Knowledge of the impact our food has on the earth is more important than ever.
Penny Krebiehl, an area resident since 2000, is trying to spread community awareness of the footprints we leave on the earth through the Little Artshram Summer Art-Farm Camp for children in first through sixth grades. The program rents five garden spaces at the Community Garden and implements the Permaculture practice of careful observation of natural patterns, cycles and diversity. It is held in partnership with the Art Center of Traverse City, which sends over visiting artists to make art with the children as well.
Penny’s children examine their connection to the earth through the creation of art prompted by the basic concepts of food, water, shelter, and community During their week at the Art Farm, they get to paint and draw nature outdoors, make puppets, write and perform their own puppet show and sing and dance, all while tending and learning about the plants that live in the Art-Farm gardens.
The Permaculture principles for agriculture are important ideas, especially for young minds that are just beginning to examine their place on this earth. The concepts include catching and storing energy from the earth, producing no waste, integration rather than segregation, implementation of small and slow solutions rather than large and fast ones, creative use and response to change and placing value on the margins.
These concepts are evident all over the program. For the basic garden need of irrigation, Penny and her assistants have a modified rickshaw-like cart that they use to haul water from a nearby stream rather than using a well. They also collect rainwater in rain barrels scattered throughout the garden, and will soon have a water-catching system off the roof of the Art-Farm barn. A composting toilet is also on their wish list.
One of the most refreshing things about Penny’s approach to gardening is her creativity. She ran a community art center for children in Lansing for several years prior to moving to Leelanau County.
There, Penny “really liked the community element of people being able to walk, bike and come to the art space without driving their cars. It was more localized.” Unfortunately, at the Art Farm in Traverse City, “the approach is a little different because we are outside and we have to drive to get here, but I think it’s a really valuable experience for the children to learn to adapt to their environment and make art even though they aren’t indoors in a classroom,” she says.
Penny is known for her amazing ability to organize children’s programs at music festivals such as Dunegrass, Blissfest and Earthworks, as well as her involvement with the Earth Day Parade in Traverse City and her commitment to being a positive force in our community through Little Artshram Farm.
Her large papier-mâché puppets are a beautiful surprise to find floating above a children’s parade at a music festival, and the things she can put together with items that most people would consider garbage are fun to create and play with — even for adults. My favorite so far are her cardboard and coat hanger chicken puppets she taught us to make for the children’s activities at the 2006 Blissfest and Dunegrass festivals.
Andrea Hemphill, one of the teachers-in-training at the Art Farm and a frequent festival volunteer, told me that the best part of working with Penny is the way she shares her knowledge. “We learn a lot in a creative way, and the way we learn things makes us go “Ohh! Yeah!” when we figure it out because it’s a more self- directed learning process. The most important thing we lean is that we can all do it. It’s a big learning process, and it makes us feel really good,” she told me while pulling out invasive Star Thistle from the garden plots.
Penny will hold four sessions of Art-Farm Camp this summer: June 25-29, July 16-20, July 23-27 and August 6-10. To register, contact the ArtCenter in Traverse City at (231) 941-9844. There are also many other fun events being held by Little Artshram Farm throughout this summer and fall. For more information please visit www.littleartshram.org.