Messages to the River

Lihua Lei Farley’s SEED project features contributions from third- and fourth-grade students from four schools in the St. George River watershed: Thomaston Grammar School, Cushing Community School, Ames Elementary School (Searsmont), and Hope Elementary School. During classroom visits with Georges River Land Trust staff and Farley, students participated in an interactive presentation about the many ways the river shapes life in the watershed—from ecology and agriculture to recreation and community. They were then invited to imagine a conversation with the river. Using special environmentally safe writing materials, they created drawings, poems, and letters to the. One student asked, “Will the river write back?”

Each of the poems, letters, and drawings featured below has been incorporated into one of Farley’s seed sculptures, alongside native riparian seeds and fragments of the artist’s own message—a handwritten transcription of the Heart Sutra, a Buddhist text that reflects on interconnectedness. These sculptures will be carried to the river during a series of participatory community events as part of SEED.