The Tree Spa uses maple syrup equipment to power a participatory maple steam room. This public art and sustainable design project invites reflection on land, food, climate, culture, and Indigenous stewardship in Connecticut. This project has received so much volunteer support already and we just need one more push to sustain the project for the future. The Keney Park Sustainability Project has hosted the Hartford Maple Syrup Club operations at the Keney Park Urban Agriculture Education Site located in the Windsor section of Keney Park. The Tree Spa is mobile, built on trailers, and we want to be able to move it around easily for events across the Hartford region. We have partnered with KNOX, Inc. to provide environmental education workshops with students, teaching them about Indigenous sovereignty, stewardship, and climate change through the medium of maple sap, steam and syrup. We want to expand this program, showing students and families the entire maple process in urban neighborhoods.

We are also excited to be able to bring the project to a wider audience through partnering with the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, where we are doing educational programming with schools, teens, and the public. To make all of this happen sustainably going forward, we need to do some safety maintenance work on the trailers, finish the siding on the steamroom, and upgrade the steam ductwork connection. We also need to handle insurance coverage for our equipment and volunteers, and be able to pay people for at least some of the time they are putting into this labor of love. Please consider supporting this community-based project as you are able! Any amount helps! We are hoping to still hold our annual pancake breakfast on April 11, and building towards expanding programming for the future.