Join Dr Rebecca Mayo and Professor Mitchell Whitelaw and explore Wanniassa Hills Reserve through plant discovery and art-making. Observe, learn and create with the plants and other inhabitants of Wanniassa Hills Reserve. This activity combines hands-on making with digital tools to introduce new ways of engaging with our living environment.

Learn to create artworks exploring the colours and textures of plants, using hapazome (hammering) and frottage (rubbing) techniques.

Learn to use your smartphone to identify, discover and record the diverse species in our urban nature reserves. See how apps like iNaturalist Seek and BirdNET can help identify species and build knowledge, whether you’re a novice or an expert. We will sketch, diagram and doodle, creating graphics that show us something about this special place. These graphics will form part of the final creative outcomes of the Living City project.

No prior experience or technical knowledge is required.

Location:

The activity will take place at Wanniassa Hills Reserve.
Parking access is on the Issac Ridge side of Long Gully Road (view map here). Parking is limited to 10 car spaces.

From the carparking area, please follow signage to the underpass to access the activity site.

What to bring:

Appropriate sun / weather protection including warm clothing, sun hat, wet weather gear.

Please bring your own water bottle. Additional water will be available for refill.

Optional: BYO laptop, tablet or phone and download the Seek by iNaturalist and BirdNET apps for your device.

Important:

Registration is essential. Maximum participants 20 persons.

The location is remote with no toilets or facilities on site.

Closed-toe footwear must be worn.

Persons under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The ground may be uneven and/or slippery, please take care when moving around the grounds. For any questions regarding accessibility please contact admin.somad@anu.edu.au.

In the event of extreme weather, the workshop may be cancelled or postponed. Participants will be notified by email.

About the Facilitators

Dr Rebecca Mayo is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Art & Design, Australian National University. She examines how an art practice built around process, repetition, and labour can produce artworks that manifest—and reveal—practices of care. She uses site- and species-specific plant dye to make visible the interdependent, reciprocal care between plants and people. In recent years, she has begun to locate her labour in gardening, establishing dye and fibre gardens at her home studio and at the ANU School of Art & Design. This focus enables a cyclical and circular practice, growing colour and fibre from seed.

Professor Mitchell Whitelaw is a lecturer at the ANU School of Art & Design. His research spans practice and theory in the fields of digital design and culture; working with data and computation as core materials in a creative research practice. Current themes in his research are Redesigning Biodiversity Data and Design for Digital Heritage and Humanities.

Wanniassa Hills Nature Reserve is a 262-hectare protected area in north-eastern Tuggeranong adjacent to the suburbs of Fadden and Macarthur. The reserve is great for birdwatching and offers ridgetop views of southern Canberra and wildflower displays especially in spring. Learn more.

Living City: people, plants and place is a three-year visual arts and design program working with Canberra’s suburban communities and many urban natural environments. The program encourages accessible and inclusive, art-based engagement with urban spaces while addressing climate change, urban biodiversity, wellbeing and conservation.

This program is funded by ArtsACT and the ANU School of Art & Design.

Contact the host of Plant Discovery and Art-making at Wanniassa Hills Reserve

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