Robin Wall Kimmerer Launches community Action
Plant, Baby, Plant!
On Sunday, October 12, a crowd gathered at Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods to launch the first community activation of Plant, Baby, Plant. The new nationwide grassroots campaign is led by author and botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, who was recently awarded the Smith Nature Symposium Environmental Leadership Award by Brushwood Center.
The outdoor celebration invited participants of all ages to join in art-making, music, and collective care for the land. Plant, Baby, Plant is a grassroots movement of people taking meaningful, regenerative action to care for the Earth—in the garden and in the streets. Together, they aim to:
- Heal Land: plant trees, raise gardens, restore prairies, protect wetlands.
- Build Community: support and widen the circle of people who work with the land.
- Grow Power: transform love of land into social change through creative resistance.
The event featured opening remarks from Kimmerer, collaborative outdoor art led by Osage artist Lydia Cheshewalla, and live music by Elexa Dawson. The event marked the inaugural in-person gathering of Plant, Baby, Plant, the first in a series of community activations that will bloom wherever Robin visits, turning inspiration into action.
“Together, we can spark a grassroots movement to heal land, build community, and transform love of land into social change. Not only will we plant trees and food and wildflower meadows, but we will plant our feet and say ‘no more destruction’. We will plant a flag, to claim that this is what good citizens do on behalf of Mother Earth,” said Kimmerer.
Photos by Michael Kardas Photography
