Before eco celebration…creation: Workshops to make giant puppets, masks and more

BY THE VILLAGE SUN | Spring is in the air and that means…it’s time once again to start cobbling together the giant puppets, masks and costumes for the annual Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY: Procession for Climate Solutions.

Earth Celebrations uses the arts to build local engagement and action around urban climate challenges and solutions, amid the fertile landscape of the community gardens, the East River waterfront and the neighborhoods of the East Village and Lower East Side.

To build the puppets and more there will be Art & Climate Solutions Workshops on Saturdays from now through May 4, from noon to 4 p.m. at 638 E. Sixth St. (free — limited tickets).

At the workshops, Earth Celebrations’ artists in residence engage community participants in creating visual art, mobile sculptures, giant puppets, spectacular costumes and 21 site performances.

The visual works created will be featured in the ECOLOGICAL CITY: Procession for Climate Solutions on Sat., May 11, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festive, 10-mile “urban ecological pilgrimage” includes performances of music, dance, theater and poetry celebrating climate solution initiatives.

Per Earth Celebrations: “Artistic works explore these sites and their climate solutions that are embedded throughout the neighborhood. The gardens provide a myriad of solutions, including sequestering carbon, filtering air pollution and [rainwater] runoff, as well as absorbing floodwater from storm surges and sea level rise. Visionary green infrastructure projects throughout the neighborhood include bio-swales…pollinator gardens, solar gazebos, permeable pathways, vertical farming, green roofs and sustainable urban farming. On the waterfront, oyster planting, wetlands, kayak launch river access and a rolling hillside seawall berm offer varied resiliency approaches and solutions.”

The pageant brings together local residents and more than 50 partner groups to celebrate grassroots-generated, local climate solutions and an urban sustainable ecosystem.

For more information, visit earthcelebrations.com.