Eco Arts Book Club

Join artist and facilitator Andrea Merredew at Canopy Studios for a slow, spacious, and inspiring monthly practice that blends reading, reflection, and art‑making.

Each workshop begins with a conversation about the book we’re exploring together. From there, the themes and questions that surface become the spark for that month’s eco‑art project.

Over the course of the series, we’ll journey through a new book every two months, giving ideas time to settle, deepen, and bloom into artwork made with natural and sustainable materials.

• Thoughtful, nourishing book discussions
• Hands‑on eco‑art projects inspired by the land
• Playful experimentation with natural materials
• A warm, supportive creative community
• Space to reconnect with your senses, imagination, and the world around you

Join us in a way that works for you—come every month from May - December or drop in for just a couple sessions depending on the book or art activity that interests you.

Single Workshop:
$35 per session

Eco Book Club Member
All 8 sessions for $245 (one free session)

Early Bird Offer:
Register by Earth Day (April 22) and receive 15% off
Promo code: EARTH`15

Bring-a-Friend Deal:
$60 for two tickets

Dates and Themes
May 15 and June 19 from 6-8pm: Who are your waters?

Book: Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

In May, we’ll explore the waters that shape our lives by creating personal scrolls with recycled textiles and simple hand‑stitching. Slow, calming, and open to all skill levels. If this is a challenge to your hands or eyes an alternative project is available so please consider joining.

In June, we’ll turn our attention to the waters close to home by creating mosaics with plastic collected from the shores of Glenmore Reservoir. Join our shoreline cleanup on May 9, 10–12 to gather materials for your piece and help care for the water that sustains us.

July 24 & August 28 from 6-8pm: What if the Earth loved you back?

Book: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Over the summer we’ll move out into the garden to create with the land. In July, we’ll harvest from the garden and make ephemeral land‑art installations.

In August, we’ll weave with plants, creating small, whimsical baskets and sculptural forms. If this is a challenge to your hands or eyes an alternative project is available so please consider joining.

September 18 & October 16 from 6-8pm: Pay Attention. Be Astonished. Tell About it.

Book: Devotions by Mary Oliver

In September, we’ll wander the neighbourhood around Canopy Studios with our cameras (or phones), to connect deeply with the present moment, focusing on seeing the world with fresh eyes.

In October, we’ll create mixed media art with natural materials such as birch bark, wood fibre, and leaf skeletons.

November 20 & 18 December: Everything Is Waiting for YouBook: River Flow by David Whyte

As the year slows, we’ll turn toward stillness and reflection, inspired by David Whyte’s Everything Is Waiting for You. These months invite gentle, contemplative making—creative practices that help us listen inward, notice what’s arriving, and honour the quiet gifts of the season.

In November, we’ll create a mixed‑media collage using old magazines and found materials.In December, we’ll craft a Dark Sky Journal, a companion for the winter months and an invitation to step outside in the evening to gather thoughts, sketches, and reflections

What Is Eco Art?

Using natural, recycled, reclaimed, or low‑impact materials (wood, leaves, plants, clay, found objects, or repurposed materials) to reduce environmental impact and connect with the land.

Eco art sparks conversations about climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and our relationship with the land. Some works even aim to restore or heal damaged environments, such as cleaning beaches and transforming waste into beauty.

Eco art spans many forms, and in this workshop series we’ll explore mixed‑media, collage, land art sculpture, photography, and textile work. You’re invited to discover how creativity can deepen your relationship with place, community, and the more‑than‑human world. Each month, the book we’re reading will guide the themes, questions, and materials we explore. Every project becomes a way to reflect on the book, respond to the land, and create something meaningful and sustainable.

My name is Andrea Merredew, I'm a Calgary artist and facilitator. I believe that art matters and it has the power to transform people's lives and help protect the earth. I have been involved with social and environmental justice work for the past 25 years and in 2009 I started Springwood Studio to support the health of communities and the earth through land-based programming for children, teens and adults.

I grew up in Montreal, surrounded by people who made beautiful things and they inspired me to make things too. I found freedom in working with my hands and communicating through sculpture, photography and mixed media collage.

I currently offer land art workshops and facilitate a monthly gathering in the forest. You can read my eco arts blog and sign up for my monthly newsletter.

You can find my Forest Jewellery at the Leighton Art Centre Gallery Shop and my online shop.​ Each piece is handcrafted, sustainably made and one of a kind.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Canopy Studios