Roxbury Sunflower Project

The Roxbury Sunflower Project's Garden needs many hands to cultivate and nurture. On May 30th and June 13 community friends came out to plant, water, and care for this season's sunflowers. Each of you are special partners to the project.

By the way, FREE sunflower seeds can still be picked up at the Grove Hall and Roxbury Branch Libraries. Best to plant this week.

Gardeners of all ages and stages are welcome to join us for the 8th season of The Roxbury Sunflower Project. Free seeds to plant sunshine wherever you like. This year we have gorgeous seedlings, first come first served. Help us spread the word! All are welcome. 

Can you believe it!? Summer is almost over. Conversations will switch from swimming pools to school supplies, from sunscreen to scarves. I hope you have had an amazing summer. At the Grove Hall Roxbury Sunflower Garden there has been lots of hard work and lots of fun.

This Tuesday, August 27th, is our final event from 4:00- 6:00 pm at 639 Warren Street (at the corner of Warren and Crawford). There will be light refreshments, a collage activity, music and fun. Please join us and bring a friend.

Here's a recap of Roxbury Sunflower Project (RSP), Madison Park Development Corporation (MPDC) and "Make it Sensory" summer activities to date:

All ages and stages participated with "Make it Sensory"...

Each week, community folk enjoyed the making of beaded bracelets, coffee filter butterflies, hand prints, masks and more. New tables and chairs from MPDC allow us to set up shop in comfort.

Teens from the Greatest Minds stopped by and spent an afternoon making nature assemblages which Maria then embedded in resin. They will last forever!!!

There were butterfly prints...

and clay roses too.

Madison Park Development Corporation's Teens were a big help getting the Sunflower Garden weeded and watered. They also had some quality time with Maria making butterflies.

It was important for them to learn to recognize the weeds among the sunflowers...

Water is life!

To help with the watering on the site, Speak for the Trees gave us a water tank which they refilled weekly. We all learned how to use the spigot without getting drenched. Watering was done by hand!

In addition to bringing the water tank, Speak for the Trees staff Lilli and Jonathan helped us with weeding when they could.

We were lucky to have some volunteers. Although the gloves were oversized, our youngest volunteer, Nekeba was a champion helper. Her dad came along to help out.

We loved our shed, built by WORC2 but it needed a little something...

Decisions, decisions...

How about a beautiful Sunflower yellow coat.

MPDC teens enjoyed getting some paint on their hands.

Everything is better in yellow... Wouldn't you agree?

Well the closing chapter is tomorrow and we hope to see you in the garden for our final art making activities, refreshments, sunflowers and celebration at the Grove Hall Sunflower Garden at the corner of Warren and Crawford.

Abundant thanks for all the hands who planted, watered and supported this year,

Partially cleared, lots more to do...

It's amazing how quickly new weeds have sprung up on the sunflower beds. We had quite a job on our hands clearing the beds of weeds and getting them watered. It hasn't rained much lately and though we've enjoyed the sunny days it poses a bit of a challenge for the garden.

To that end, the Sunflower Garden at Grove Hall received a life giving piece of equipment from "Speak for the Trees." A water tank will allow us to water the site ourselves and keep our flowers growing and glowing. Project Manager.

Always willing to lend a hand...

While waiting for a few parts to install the tank, Jonathan and Lilly help out with weeding.

Bobby Walker, Project Manager is the first to use it and show us all the best practices.

Learning the difference between sunflowers and weeds is important!

Teens from Madison Park Development Corporation are on site this summer to help us grow sunflowers and learn about public art and public activism. They will assist in everything from distributing flyers in the area, to weeding flower beds to creating artwork for the new shed.

These hands can do anything...

Our youngest volunteer, Nakeeba, came with her dad to help us do another weeding of the lot. Even though the rubber gloves were oversized so was her enthusiasm for helping out.

Nakeeba shows "Speak for the Trees," Lilly how to make a heart.

Hands and Butterfly motifs...

In the afternoon, Visiting artist, MARIA MCKNIGHT of 2birds no stones is on hand to make art with the neighborhood. with spray paints, stencils, pipe cleaners and clay there's no telling what creative teens and kids will make.

The gang from "Greatest Minds" visited and made art on the site.

Maria will be on site every Tuesday from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. All ages are welcome but please register so we will have enough materials. TO REGISTER GO TO: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sbU6OBEj2qfjqhuqYJtR4RNvZv2GsDlgIdcVcXw03N8/edit

the giant sunflowers will grow.

Seeds dropped from last year's harvest produced these beauties.

These photos taken by London Parker McWhorter of UNLR Community Garden, hint at the collective work it took to transform Madison Park Development Corporation's newest lot into a beautiful garden.

On the lot now owned by Madison Park Development Corporation, volunteers appeared from the neighborhood as folks who were just walking or biking stopped to see what we were up to.

All hands on deck!

Roxbury Home Grown!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Its Official - The Roxbury Sunflower Project season has begun. The sparc! team was on hand this Saturday, June 8th to help celebrate and distribute free sunflower seeds, seedlings, and information. To top it off, they helped members of the community blossom with the traditional Roxbury Sunflower Crowns. This year, we also added Roxbury Sunflower corsages. 

Our Kid's Kits are super popular among the young set. This year they chose their own seeds with instructions, coloring pages, markers, butterfly/sunflower pens, journals and stickers.

Speak for the Trees, an organization that helps to water the sunflowers  over the season, was on hand with stickers, journals and brochures to answer questions about their mission to work with community members to plant, preserve, care and advocate for trees and to expand the tree canopy in environmentally marginalized Boston neighborhoods.

Judge Harris and Beverly Harris are always first on site and this year was no exception. We hope the seedlings they picked up do well in their garden.

Karen Holmes from WCVB, stopped by with a donation of Mammoth Sunflower seeds. Karen and I go way back. Thank you Karen. We hope your flowers grow tall and beautiful this year.

We were also pleased to have a visit from urban farming and history legends, London Parker McWhorter and Bobby Walker. 

Free sunflower seeds are still available at the Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library. Just ask at the front desk.

GROVE HALL PUBLIC LIBRARY • SATURDAY JUNE 8TH

Join us for a special community event in Grove Hall Celebrating Roxbury resilience, radiance and roots. A Family friendly event featuring music, art, food and fun.

Announcing the RSP Poetry Contest Winners!!!

Winner 21+up: Candelaria Norma Silva for "Sunflower Cousins"

Winner 13-21: Sara for "My Poem is about Love from the Hart"

12 and under: Winner: Vy Huynh age 7 for “Light”

Congratulations to each of you. Thank you for sharing your inspiring words reflecting the 7 Roxbury Sunflower Project themes.

Midnight tonite is the deadline for submitting your poetry to the RSP Poetry Contest. Great Prizes, Great Judges. Announcement of winners on Saturday, August 5th at the Roxbury Poetry Festival.

Poets! Writers! Rappers! Submit your original poetry to the Roxbury Sunflower Project Poetry contest! haikus, raps, sonnets - all styles welcome. Reference any Roxbury Sunflower Project Theme: Seeds, Deep Roots, Following the Light, Radiance, Resilience, Beauty and Community. 3 age categories. Great prizes and great judges. Porsha Olayiwola, Poet Laureate, City of Boston, Lisa Lee, Poet, Artist, and Joel Mackall, Teacher, Author and Photographer.

Dear Community! The 2023 Season of the Roxbury Sunflower Project is up and running. Thank you to everyone who came out to collect their free Sunflower seeds, Kids Kits and raffle prizes on Saturday. The weather was perfect! Our indoor/outdoor event at the Grove Hall Public Library attracted visitors from as far away as South Africa. They have pledged to plant in solidarity with our themes of Plant Seeds, Deep Roots, Follow the Light, Radiance, Resilience, Beauty and Transformation. Everything the world needs more of, embodied in the elegant Sunflower.  

The Sunflower Welcome Committee, volunteer, Valarie Simms-Mizell!

New friends and partners from South Africa!

Volunteer, Evelyn Moore and Pamela Mason, two old friends reconnect!

Some people just bring the sunshine in their smiles...

A Jazzy Visor and Crown for a young gardener...

The Sunflower Crown Table is always busy. It was facilitated by students from CACP’s sparc! the ArtMobile. 

Lissa, MassArt Grad ‘22 makes a cool compostable plant pot!

Women of the sunflower: Audrey Lopez, Curator of Public Art, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, Ekua Holmes, Founder, Roxbury Sunflower Project and Ceci Mendez, Director, MassArt’s Center for Art and Community Partnerships

sparc! the ArtMobile is a retrofitted van fully equipped with art supplies that brings intergenerational art and design experiences to the community - free of charge.  sparc! is an initiative of the Center for Art and Community Partnerships (CACP) at MassArt and collaborates with many community based organizations, schools, artists, and businesses to share resources, and nurture community relationships with an awesome student team. sparc!’s visibility, accessibility and mobility make it a popular part of community events and a vibrant resource for creative interactions and experiences.  MassArt’s Center for Art and Community Partnerships (CACP) partners with people and communities within and beyond MassArt to radically expand access to transformative creative experiences.

Making flowers for “Today’s Garden” at the Grove Hall Public Library. 

Download this sheet and create your own beautiful Sunflower garden. Share with your friends and family. Just add creativity and color!