Support Sustainable Art, Agriculture, Community, and Biodiversity at the Horticulture Center of Illinois State University!
The Center’s 2023 theme Native Roots: Honoring Our Connection to Indigenous Plants, grew from the Center’s work and commitment to prairies. The work, events, and connections that were made last year helped us to conclude that incorporating Indigenous plants, people, and animals into the Center was so significant that it became our 7th Core Belief:
We believe that understanding the history of our land is crucial to ensuring its future and we aspire to honor all life - the peoples, plants, and animals - who existed here before us.
Ruth Burke, an Assistant Professor in Fine Arts, and her lovely oxen companions, Clark and Sparky, are collectively laboring on an earth work at the Horticulture Center called Domestic Rewilding (A Living Land Acknowledgement).
The earth work aims to
restore ecosystems to a more natural state and will consist of an east-facing,
U-shaped mound that will wrap about an acre of space. At its core, the mound
will surround a gathering place along with interpretation, solstice markers,
and a sculpture created by an Indigenous artist. Clark and Sparky will be
significant contributors as they will do the “heavy” lifting of plowing and
moving materials at the Center. The whole area will be planted in a mix of
prairie flowers and grasses with walking paths throughout and a central
gathering space.
We need your help to reach our goal
We’ve completed the back-end work for this project over the
last three years and with your help, we will finish most of the project by the
end of Summer 2025. The total need is $23,447, which is a significant amount of
money! But here’s the thing: taking care of our environment is urgent—we have a
collective responsibility to address climate change. Now is the time to act.
Every gift, no matter the size, will help our community by
adding another acre of prairie to the Horticulture Center, upholding the
University’s values, and put tangible action behind acknowledging the people,
plants, animals, microbes, and insects who have been, and still are here.
Why Your Support Matters
The overarching intent of Domestic Rewilding is to serve as a Living Land Acknowledgement to native people, plants, and animals of Central Illinois and reflect on wider concerns around interspecies relationships, eco-social engagement, and sustainable systems restoration. When completed, the earth work will be a meaningful structure that educates our visitors and expands the green footprint of the Center by placing another acre in prairie for pollinators and other creatures.
Your gifts will support purchasing topsoil, seed, seedlings, a trailer for the Horticulture Center, gravel for walkways, and carved stone elements. These funds will allow the project collaborators to complete most of the fabrication by the end of Summer 2025. Every contribution no matter the size makes this unique addition to the Center possible.
Field Day Event - Saturday, May 3 2025
Additionally, the Horticulture Center is hosting a
Field Day Event on
Saturday, May 3
during which the public is invited to come observe draft-animal-power at work, learn about local food systems, biodiversity, and get your hands in the dirt.
One of the characteristics of ISU that makes it a special place is our commitment to excellence in teaching and research. Domestic Rewilding (A Living Land Acknowledgement) is the flagship site of three draft-animal powered contemporary art earthworks. The other two are part of the same series of works led by Assistant Professor Ruth Burke and located in Steuben, Wisconsin (2022), and Cochranville, Pennsylvania (2024). These unique works are a testament to the cutting-edge nature of the interdisciplinary creative research supported by our University.
All donations above $25 have a gift attached as a token of our sincere thanks.
Check out the Giving Levels infographic for more details.
Thank you for your support!