West Reading Avenues Summer 2021 - 13

students, residents, and volunteers will grow plants ranging from
tomatoes to herbs and everything in between. Beginning in the
fall of 2021, the classroom gardens at the corner of Walnut
and North 3rd street will bustle with educational programs
from the wider Reading School District, as GoggleWorks' After
School Arts Program (ASAP) takes on the garden experience
and gives local kids the opportunity to learn about sustainability,
farming, bio-science, community self-reliance, STEAM, and a
variety of other green topics. In addition to the educational
programs, the project will provide more nutrient-rich food to
the community through monthly market events and ongoing
" pick-and-take " program activities.
In the summer of 2022, GoggleWorks will host a Resident
Horticulturist, an expansion to its regular summer residency
program. Similar to that program, the Resident Horticulturist
will live in Reading for 10 weeks, teaching and developing a
capstone project. In this case, the capstone will be a permaculture
installation, new garden plot, or other permanent green asset
for the benefit of the community.
The project leaders have also engaged regionally-located, nationally
renowned organizations to develop the program. Longwood
Gardens is the living legacy of Pierre S. du Pont, inspiring people
through excellence in garden design, horticulture, education,
and the arts. Longwood Gardens will advise project leaders; as
host to students and residents for field trips to its site; and offer
programming support. Rodale Institute, widely recognized as
the founder of the organic movement, is dedicated to growing
that movement through research, farmer training, and consumer
education. Rodale will bring its mobile market to supplement
the student-garden foods available to the community at market
events. Rodale leaders will offer workshops in composting and
other sustainability topics. A host of community leaders have
advised project leaders, including Kim Murphy from Berks
Nature, Councilwoman Lucine Sihelnik, PA Senator Judith
Schwank, and other local experts in the field.
While your first impression may be to ask " Why is an art center
trying to grow a garden? " the natural world has long been an
inspiration for the arts. From sunflowers to vegetables, ceramic
dishes to pots to plant in, the crossover potential is endless.
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With this opportunity in mind, GoggleWorks was eager to bridge
the gap and put a creative twist on the garden experience. Beyond
the project connections, GoggleWorks cites neighborhood
activation, access and equity, and healthy food security as other
important goals to the project. Ultimately, GoggleWorks leaders
envision a future food system-wide approach, call it farm-toclassroom-to-fork,
where students can grow foods, learn to
cook them in a culinary kitchen at GoggleWorks, and serve
delicious, nutritious foods to the community in the restaurant
also located there.
So next time you are near Penn Street in Reading, pop over to
GoggleWorks to learn more, or find your creative side. Regardless
if you're looking for some inspiration, searching for something
to make, or just curious to see what's sprouting, you now have
one more reason to feed your hunger for creativity.
visitwestreading.org 11
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West Reading Avenues Summer 2021

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