Clarke Museum brings native plants to Old Town
The Clarke Historical Museum is working on a project to beautify its section of Old Town through the creation of an interactive educational garden featuring native and edible local plants in front of the museum at 240 E St. in Eureka.
The plants will be used to teach visitors about the role and use of native plants in North Coast Indigenous cultures — from tea to baskets to food and more.
The Clarke was inspired to take this project on when the planters outside of the museum were vandalized and broken a few months ago, and it was seen as an opportunity to rethink how the planter boxes could be used for programs like Arts Alive! basketry workshops and local tea events, explained Katie Buesch, the museum’s executive director/curator.
These workshops, she said, give the public an opportunity for hands-on experience with local Indigenous plant materials, leading to a clearer understanding of the work that goes into weaving baskets like those found at the Clarke Museum. “Having some of the plants close by enables participants in these workshops to learn how to carefully harvest as well as process the plants, allowing for a more complete experience,” she said. “The museum believes this project will add a powerful, effective and worthwhile tool to enhance ongoing programming about local history and cultures.”
Work has already begun on this project, with the donation of two concrete planter boxes by Hilfiker Pipe Co. With donations from Humboldt Made and the Eureka Sequoia Garden Club to fund the purchase of plants and soil, there is ample community interest to complete this project, Buesch said.
The Clarke Museum needs help to raise the final $500 needed to paint the boxes, which will carry illustrations of local plants created by Jenna Catsos of Pen and Pine and co-creator of the Eureka Street Art Festival.
“With the new artwork, the boxes are sure to catch the eyes of those passing by and encourage them to stop and look more closely,” Buesch said.
She added: “The Clarke Museum believes these planters will create an attractive, living display that will benefit both casual passers-by and museum patrons. Having this garden outside would also allow for hosting small-scale plant-related programming outside the museum while COVID-19 restrictions continue.”
Donations can be made by bringing by cash or check written out to the Clarke Historical Museum, through the museum’s Facebook Page under the Fundraiser heading, or through PayPal at http://www.clarkemuseum.org/donations.html. (For PayPal donations, be sure to include a note that says it is for the planter project.)
The Clarke Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.