Community Tree Gardens

Community Tree Gardens

The Art of Community Tree Gardens is an interactive art activation piloted in Flatbush, Brooklyn, by Environmental artist, activist and musician Chantel kemp. In collaboration with Vital Village Network and Boston Medical Center, she will collaboratively design and install 30 community tree gardens to address Food Apartheid, Food Access, and Environmental Racism alongside her community. Her work is centered on access to art connective spaces, free-growing, native plants, and activations that honor solutions-oriented environmental design. Using the praxis of Popular Education and actionable art, the Art of Community Tree Gardens involves community feedback, community agency, and a return to holistic growing practices, showcasing how Intentional integrated growing spaces can transform communities from the inside out. 

Activation Components

An orchid plant with green leaves and pink flowers wrapped with black string around a tree branch.

Tree Satchels

These customized satchels will be used for mobile tree gardens (Image reference: Orchids growing on trees)

Wooden wind chime hanging from a branch in a garden with green bushes and a red fence in the background.

Water Chimes

These water chimes will be used for self-watering the tree satchels

Six colorful fabric squares, each with different dried herbs or spices arranged on top, on a white background. The fabrics are red, pink, orange, purple, yellow, and brown.

Plant Dyes

Incorporating plant dye techniques to color design the tree satchels 

Seed shakers labeled 'Wildflower Seeds for Bees,' 'Wildflowers Wandering Matilda,' and 'Cornfield Wildflowers,' next to a wooden-handled gardening tool and a clay pot with soil, on a wooden surface.

Seed Shakers

Native seeds to provide ground cover for the tree beds

Four hands stacked together, each wearing colorful friendship bracelets. One hand has a starfish-themed bracelet, another with a red bead bracelet. One hand has a tattoo, and the background is blurry.

Community

Collaborating directly with community members for feedback, tree selection, workshop series, and activation 

Our Vision

These tree satchels are designed to be fully autonomous DIY Mobile Growing containers. The Water chimes act as a watering device to pull water into the satchels during the rain. While all plants and herbs used for the tree gardens will be drought-resistant, native or need little to no water. This will allow the tree gardens to be fully self-sustained outside of maintenance to repair the burlap or transferring the satchel to another tree.

Workshop Series

This workshop series runs from april-June 2026. all sessions will be hosted in rtv community garden in flatbush! all ages welcome!!

Workshop #1: The Introduction

[ 60 minutes ]

Presenting The Art of Community Tree Gardens to the Flatbush, Brooklyn community. Talking more about food justice and radical free growing for art and emancipation. Community members will review the established plan for the tree garden installation and identify trees near them that can house a community tree garden. 

Workshop #2: Material Acknowledgment

[ 90 minutes ] 

Community members will engage with the seeds, burlap materials, and start to customize the tree garden satchels. Including dyeing the tree satchels using plant dye materials and creating soil composition. 

Workshop #3: Material Activation

[ 90 minutes ] 

Community members will pre-assemble tree garden satchels, seed shakers, and craft water chimes. Including customizing tree satchels and creating “Tree Station Kits” for our direct action activation. 

Workshop #4: Direct-Action Activation

[ 90 minutes ] 

Community members will mass install the tree gardens onto 30 community-identified trees in the Flatbush community. 

Workshop #5: Community Analysis

[ 90 minutes ] 

Community members will engage in data storytelling surrounding The Art of Community Tree Gardens project, and its impact on the Flatbush, Brooklyn community. 

Workshop #6: Sustaining Community

[ 3 Hours ] 

Community members will be invited to participate in a skill-share registry, share testimonials about their experience, and celebrate the activation of the project. Including live music, refreshments, art reflections through vision boards, and community connection.

Group of five people standing outside at a table, examining items, with gardening tools, water bottles, and papers on the table.
A person's hand with polished nails in blue and pink resting on a textured, light-colored stone wall, wearing a silver bracelet, a silver ring with a gold design, and a silver ring with a star charm, with a background of trees and a brick building.
Close-up of a person's hand holding small reddish-brown seeds, with other people and greenery in the background.
Group of people sitting at an outdoor table enjoying a meal on a sunny fall day, with colorful autumn leaves in the background.

Growing is already happening in flatbush

A plant growing on a wooden trellis against a gray wall, with additional plants in a large, weathered container below it.
A bright yellow sunflower with a dark center growing in front of a brick building at night.
A person's hand holding a small leafy herb plant over a garden with green plants and a fence in the background.
A street scene with a sidewalk, parked cars, and a tree with reddish-brown foliage, next to a brick building.
Pink lady roses growing on a lush green bush in front of a multi-story brick building with windows.
A small outdoor garden with lush green plants enclosed by black metal railings. A concrete walkway runs along the garden on the left side. In the background, a brick wall has gray and yellow spray paint, with warning signs posted above.
Potted plants behind a black metal fence on a city sidewalk with buildings and pedestrians in the background.
Urban sidewalk with potted plants and garden beds near a brick building, with cars and buildings visible across the street
Smiling woman with hand on chest sitting on grass at outdoor event, with hanging yellow flowers and a wicker chair in the background.

Meet the lead artist

Chantel Kemp is an artist, farmer, poet, environmental justice activist, and musician. Since early childhood, Chantel has been immersed in her love for poetry, music, and art, capturing deep emotions to share with her audience. Chantel’s love of both agriculture and the arts has led her on a dynamic journey to share complex environmental stories with community groups. Chantel is a multi-award winner, with recognition from Hunter College’s “40 under 40 award”, Community Board 9, as well as receiving a City Council Citation for her environmental programming and stewardship in the South Bronx. Her work has led her to work with prominent institutions like The Whitney Museum, in relation to The Harrisons’ Exhibit, exploring the parallels of environmental justice, environmental art, and social justice reform. As well as collaborating with renowned artist, Cecilia Vicuña and her work at The Guggenheim Museum, working alongside visionaries, artists, musicians, poets, and environmentalists to create collaborative creative networks that explore art as mental wellness and community connection. Chantel is currently working on The Art of Community Tree Gardens in collaboration with Vital Village Network and Boston Medical Center through her Community Food Systems Fellowship, exploring how mutual aid, Environmental Education, and Food Justice can overlap with art activations and solutions-oriented environmental design.