AGB Community & Medicine Garden, July 2026. Photo: Ema Walters

Upcoming Workshops at the AGB Community and Medicine Garden

The Art Gallery of Burlington’s Community and Medicine Garden, supported by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, has transformed the Gallery’s waterfront grounds into a living classroom where art, ecology, and community come together. Developed in partnership with BurlingtonGreen and Grow Native Halton, and in collaboration with Elder Michele Dent, the initiative increases biodiversity while creating opportunities for creative learning, environmental stewardship, and hands-on artistic practice. Supported by Backed By Bees, on-site beehives contribute to pollination, ecological education, and a thriving habitat for local wildlife.

This spring, Community Generator Artists-in-Residence Carly Franklin, Kamaldeep Kaur, and Oriana Confente planted raised beds with indigo, cosmos, coreopsis, marigolds, and other pollinator-friendly species. The plants support their research into natural dyes, inks, pigments, and photography and textile processes while providing sustainable materials for artist residencies, public workshops, and creative experimentation in the AGB’s studios.

AGB Community and Medicine Garden Opening, May 2026. Photo: Ema Walters

Visitors are invited to experience the gardens through a series of artist- and Elder-led workshops that explore natural materials, Indigenous knowledge, and sustainable artmaking.

Light, Speed, Landscapes
August 8, 2026 | 12:00 – 4:00pm

Artist Oriana Confente will lead participants on a photo walk and identify weeds near the shore of Lake Ontario. These plants will be turned into biodegradable photochemistry used to develop the film. You’ll learn about the lake’s historical connection to film manufacturing, safe foraging techniques, and developing black & white 35mm film with plant-based developers.

Eco Printing with Flowers
August 15, 2026 | 1:00 – 3:30pm

Artist Carly Franklin guides participants through the art of eco-printing, using flowers harvested from the Community Garden to create silk scarves while discovering the rich colours and botanical impressions of locally grown plants.

Eco printing with flowers. Photo: Carly Franklin

Tobacco Harvesting Workshop
September 2, 2026 | 6:00 – 7:30pm

Join Elder Michele Dent to learn how tobacco is respectfully harvested and dried, explore teachings connected to this sacred medicine, and create clay seed pods for future planting. The workshop draws on tobacco grown in both the AGB’s Medicine Garden and the Joseph Brant Museum’s garden.

From Garden to Painting: Indigo Pigment
September 19, 2026 | 12:00 – 4:00pm

Artist Kamaldeep Kaur guides participants through the process of transforming indigo grown in the garden into natural paint, revealing the journey from plant to pigment and its creative possibilities.

Together, these gardens are planting the seeds for future programs while cultivating a rich, biodiverse ecosystem that will grow alongside and support the Gallery and its neighbours. AGB’s Community and Medicine Garden provides opportunities to learn about native plants and their applications in natural dyeing, textile arts, and sustainable craft practices. The gardens provide environmentally conscious materials that inspire creativity and deepen connections between art and the natural world.

Tobacco planting with Michele Dent, AGB’s Community and Medicine Garden Opening, 2026. Photo: Ema Walters

Acknowledgements

The Community and Medicine Garden is generously supported by TD Bank Group through the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, in partnership with BurlingtonGreen and Grow Native Halton. In-kind support is provided by OSC Seeds (Ontario Seed Company Ltd.) and Backed By Bees.

About the Art Gallery of Burlington

The AGB is a hub for artistic excellence and community connection in downtown Burlington. The AGB presents thought-provoking exhibitions, hands-on learning opportunities, and public programs that invite visitors to see, think, and create in new ways. Home to the largest collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics in the world, the AGB champions a unique artistic perspective that challenges traditional boundaries and celebrates innovation.

The AGB is located on the ancestral territory of many Indigenous Nations including the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Métis peoples. The territory is mutually covered by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy, the Ojibway, and other allied Nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We acknowledge that the land upon which we gather, to create and learn, is part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Accessibility Information

The AGB is wheelchair accessible, and wheelchairs are available for loan within the Gallery space. The Lakeshore and Brock Lobby entrances are equipped with automatic doors. Ramps facilitate access throughout the Gallery, and an elevator is available for access to the second level studios. Service animals are permitted in the Gallery. The Gallery has gender-neutral washrooms and upholds that everyone has the right to safe public washroom access.

Art Gallery of Burlington
1333 Lakeshore Road
Burlington, ON L7S 1A9
www.agb.life
@artgallburl

Media Inquiries
Sarah Miserere
Manager of Development and Communications
905-632-7796 x 325
sarah@agb.life