Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed... Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders. -Henry David Thoreau

Join AMOCA and the California Botanic Garden as we welcome multidisciplinary artist, educator, and certified California naturalist Rosie Brand for a two-day workshop exploring the intricate relationships between living seed architecture and their environments!

In this ceramics workshop, we’ll spend the first day at the California Botanic Garden touring their extensive native seed bank and observing their living collection of CA native plants. Afterward, we’ll do some sensory field journaling exercises in the Garden to shape personal narratives with the plants that surround us in our everyday lives. California Botanic Garden is the largest botanic garden dedicated to California native plants: an 86 acre living museum dedicated to education, research, and conservation.

The next day, in the AMOCA Studio, students will share their botanical findings and explore the artist’s collection of locally foraged seed pods. We will continue our conversation around fostering habitats for our more-than-human neighbors, discussing human impact on the natural environment. As we imagine new possibilities for collaborations with the plant world around us, students will build their own tactile seed pod architectures through clay, using essential ceramic hand-building techniques to create both ephemeral and permanent sculptures: Clay Seed Pods.

Along with their seed sculptures, students will be able to make and take home clay seed balls embedded with native wildflower seeds to be gifted back to the land.

This class is open to all levels of clay experience!

A limited number of discounted $55 tickets are reserved for students aged 15-23. Email education@amoca.org to share proof of current student status and request the discount registration code.

Class Meetings:

Friday, May 30, 4-6 PM @ California Botanic Garden
1500 N College Avenue, Claremont CA 91711

Saturday, May 31, 12-3 PM @ AMOCA
399 N. Garey Avenue, Pomona CA 91767

NOTE: native seed balls are only to be sown in gardens, curbsides, or local empty lots around your urban neighborhood, so as not to disturb the delicate balance of our native ecosystems.

Materials and tools:

Provided:

Low Fire Terracotta Sculpture (provided by AMOCA)
Seeds (provided by CalBG)
Field journaling (provided by CalBG)
Some sculpting tools will be available for use during the workshop at AMOCA.

Bringing your own tools, such as: sponge, knife, metal/wooden modeling tools, silicone rib, serrated rib, or other texturizing tools, is encouraged.

We recommend wearing clothes that can get a bit muddy or bringing your own apron.

About the Artist:

Rosie Brand is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and educator living on Tongva land: Los Angeles, CA.

Brand’s ceramic sculptures emerge from an intuitive exploration of the natural world, as she transcribes the tactile languages of other-than-human intelligence.

Born in the United Kingdom, Brand moved to California in 2016. Certified as a California Naturalist via the University of California’s Environmental Stewards program, she teaches interdisciplinary workshops at various arts and community spaces across Southern California including Pitzer College Art Galleries, Heavy Manners Library, and The Feminist Center for Creative Work. She is an advocate for alternative education and a founder and facilitator of the artists’ collective, worm school. Brand’s sculptures are on view at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in the exhibition Seed: A Living Dream from December 2024 until June 2025.

Contact the host of Faith in a Seed: A Clay Seed Pod Workshop with Rosie Brand