From kicking off our studio project to wrapping up spring cleaning, there has been a lot of excitement over the past couple days in studio.
On Thursday, we travelled to Kiawah for a first look at our site for the year. It was exciting to finally see it in person and walk the paths that they already have around. It’s a beautiful site and I’m sure will be an exciting year! Accompanying us was the first year Historic Preservation students who will be working with us this year on the project. They have been and will continue to give us valuable insight into the site and history of sweetgrass basket making.
For our spring semester project, we will be working with the Conservancy of the Sea Islands to design and build sweetgrass basket stands to install on the site. This will help support the overall conservation and educational goals of the project which spans several acres. Our site is just off of the Betsy Kerrison Parkway, true to the tradition of sweetgrass basket stands being located along major roads.
Pictured above: David showing us around the studio site.
Pictured above: Exploring the project site with fellow classmates.
Following our site visit, we travelled a couple minutes down the road for the Conservancy of the Sea Island’s fundraising/rebranding event. The conservancy was formerly named Kiawah Conservancy. This was a great opportunity to meet some of the conservancy members and get a feel for the area. There were lots of yummy snacks, beverages, and swag! The vibes were high and everyone was excited to be embarking on this project together.
Pictured above: Most of the A+CB cohort posing with the updated logo and title of the Conservancy of the Sea Islands.
Pictured above: David Pastre and Frank Ordia posing with the conservancy mascot.
Moving into the weekend, my peers and I wrapped up on our spring cleaning efforts. Malu, Vivian, and I have been working on doing a deep clean of the Butterfly Book Nook project. After hours and hours of pressure washing and buckets of mold/mildew cleaner sprayed, we finished our cleaning efforts on Saturday. the before and after is dramatic and I’m glad we were able to refresh this beautiful project.
Pictured above: First look at the Butterfly Book Nook and assessing spring cleaning needs.
Pictured above: Vivian cleaning off some debris from the nook.
Pictured above: Turns out the roof was white all along!
Pictured above: The Butterfly Book Nook is ready to fly again!
All in all, a very busy weekend. I’m excited to really hit the ground running with studio and start designing!