MAKE TRIBE

Make Tribe: By Carling A.W. Elder

A few weeks ago, I met up with two lovely ladies to join a discussion about how Local Color Flowers could help grow creative conversation in our Baltimore community by teaching a terrarium class. As Lindsay Hite and Jessica D’Argenio Waller shared their vision for their newest project, Make Tribe, I grew more and more excited. Make Tribe would be a series of seasonal workshops for the sole purpose of sharing expertise, forging relationships, and feeding inspiration, and as we chatted I thought,  “It’s happening!” This event is already encouraging creative conversation between us, and it hasn’t even begun! Naturally, Local Color Flowers jumped at the chance to partner with Make Tribe.

As Lindsay and Jessica had explained, each Make Tribe event would be lead by a creative professional or “Partner” who wanted to share their expertise, but it wouldn’t be a class or lecture where you merely heard about their artform. Each event would be a workshop where you worked with your hands, got dirty, and took home a souvenir and a new skill. These parameters were of course a perfect fit for a terrarium class, and for Local Color Flowers since we love getting our hands dirty!

The day of Make Tribe’s inaugural event, I showed up at the venue with trays of gorgeous locally grown succulents from Farmhouse Plants and Flowers in Brookeville, Maryland. Lindsay and Jess had the venue decorated to perfection with pretty signs, hanging garlands, chic cocktails, and Make Tribe souvenir booklets.

 

Three long tables were set up in the middle of the room lined with supplies for building the terrariums. Waiting at each place setting was a different glass vessel, and as guests trickled in, they claimed their favorite one.

 

I loved sharing my knowledge of terrariums with all the creative spirits who attended this event. The enthusiasm of every participant was supportive and infectious, and the conversational  manner of the class opened the door for many questions, comments, and new friendships to form. Everyone’s personalities shone through in the terrariums they created; from which color succulents they choose, to the shape of their vessel, to the figurines and accents they added.

Special thanks to Lindsay Hite of Make Tribe for these beautiful photos. To see more photos from the class take a look at our flickr site!

It was truly wonderful to see such creativity blossoming all around, and to play a small part in bringing Make Tribe to life.