EcoAddendum

Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

Atlanta Kudzu Festival – Kudzu Crafts Workshops, Nature Walks and More!

September 24, 2016 @ 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Eco-A joins Sustainable Lakewood and AtAtlantaKudzuFestivalFlyerlanta Council Member Carla Smith in hosting the first 

Atlanta Kudzu Festival!

Location: Atlanta’s South Bend Park – 1955 Compton Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30315

Date: Saturday, September 24

Eco-A will leads two nature walks in South Bend Park and hosts three workshops with North Georgia artist and “Kudzu King” Cleve Phillips, who will teach us how to turn troublesome kudzu into practical products and artistic creations. He’ll show us how to make baskets, paper and even candy out of kudzu in three workshops taking place throughout the day. Join us for more activities including how to remove Kudzu, English ivy and other invasive vines from your trees and yard. Join us for a full day of nature-based education, arts, foods and festivities!

Kudzu crafts workshops and nature walks:

9:00-10:00 AM – Making Baskets from Kudzu – $10. per person

Cleve Phillips shows how to fashion practical baskets and otKudzu King KKolb jpegs1-028her works of art from Kudzu vines. Kudzu vines already cut and ready to work will be provided.  How to harvest your own Kudzu vines will be explained.  Cleve will bring some of his own work to show what’s possible. See below for more info about Cleve Phillips. 

To register click HERE  –  or go to directly to EventBrite Atlanta Kudzu Festival registration then click on “tickets.”

11:00 AM – noon – Nature Walk, Native Trees and South River Stroll (free)

Eco-A leads a naturalist walk through South Bend Park, featuring a wonderful native forest and two branches of the South River which converge in the park. We’ll learn to identify native trees, and with special guest leader Jackie Echols, Director of South River Watershed Alliance, we’ll also learn much about the amazing South River that originates within a few miles of South Bend Park and then flows on to become the second largest river system on the east coast of North America.

To register click HERE  –  or go to directly to EventBrite Atlanta Kudzu Festival registration then click on “tickets.”

1:00 – 2:00 PM – Making Paper from Kudzu – $10. per person

Let’s reduce the number of trees we cut down by making paper from alternative plant materials, especially invasive species that destroy our native trees and habitats. Cleve Phillips shows us how.  Each participant takes home the products they’ve made. Reserve your place now, space is limited.

To register click HERE  –  or go to directly to EventBrite Atlanta Kudzu Festival registration then click on “tickets.”

2:00 – 3:30 PM – Nature Hike to the Great Sycamore Tree (free)

Deep in South Bend Park is an extraordinary sycamore tree, with an unusually large base and great trunk with classic mottled and bright bark. It’s a landmark tree but can be little challenging to reach, so Eco-A naturalists will guide you there, joined by guest leader Terry Sutton of Cascade Springs Forestry. Be prepared to do just a little scrambling and rock hopping along the creek — a great urban hike for the slightly more adventurous. We’ll talk about many natural features of South Bend Park along the way.

To register click HERE  –  or go to directly to EventBrite Atlanta Kudzu Festival registration then click on “tickets.”

3:30 – 4:30 PM – Making Candy from Kudzu – $10. per person

How sweet it is! Yes, there are indeed several ways to make food from Kudzu. Cleve shows how to make an easy-to-do candy. Fun for kids, take home your samples!

To register click HERE  –  or go to directly to EventBrite Atlanta Kudzu Festival registration then click on “tickets.”

Questions? please contact us or call 404-862-0118.

Kudzu King KKolb 2015-2531

More about artist, craftsman and Kudzu King Cleve Phillips:

Cleve Phillips is well-known for making just about anything you can think of from Kudzu vines he harvests from roadsides or other places where this highly invasive vine, originally from Asia, has taken hold.  He works in his north Georgia studio “The Kudzu Factory,” fashioning kudzu creations from decorative animals to furniture, to yard art, to flags, to hats to you name it. His work is additionally represented by Calderone Fine Art Gallery in Dillard, GA, and he recently received national recognition in an article featuring his work published in the Nov/Dec 2015 issue of Orion magazine.

(At right) Kudzu artist and craftsman Cleve Phillips holds his kudzu lamb creation while sitting in his kudzu-crafted porch swing — and yes, that’s a hat he’s made from kudzu.

 

Kudzu King KKolb 2015-2589Kudzu King KKolb jpegs1-020

Above photographs of Cleve Phillips and his Kudzu Creations by Kathryn Kolb.

Details

Date:
September 24, 2016
Time:
9:00 am - 6:00 pm