Advocate and partner for restorative, urban green initiatives.
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Our Mission
An artist-initiated, eco-project, founded by Pamela Booker, Where’s Your Tree? is an advocate and partner for urban green initiatives and funding opportunities that affirm a sustainable future for the planet and Black and brown lives.
Our Vision
To create forums and funding opportunities that affirm and improve the ways of being in the world for artists, healers, urban growers/farmers, and educators.
Our Origin Story
The question Where's Your Tree? emerged from a Commencement Address (see link below) that was first presented to a graduating class of Goddard College students in 2015. Of course, it was offered more as an instructive metaphor to the students, on how to nurture their outrage, genius, and conviction. Yet we often pursue what we need to learn. The spaces in which transformative ideas are rooted, are also often filled with resistance, uncertainty, fear, and a need for radical "climate change."
TELL YOUR STORY
How we tell our stories maps the vast terrain of expression in my quest for sustainable art and life practices. As an urban daughter born in Philadelphia and "adopted" by New York City before Brooklyn was "hip and trendy," I currently call Newark home. However, my love for green landscapes extends to sanctuaries nestled in Vermont, New Hampshire, and upstate New York. The beaches of Provincetown, MA, and Los Cabos, Mexico, serve as spacious sites of desire and renewal for me.
Within these diverse settings, I've learned about the profound relationship between the science of climate change, food growing for desert communities, and the impact of inadequate shade and elevated temperatures in cities, leading to heat-related stress and poor health. I recognize that healthy, green habitats, on land and in aquafit spaces, encourage harmony and balance among all living ecosystems, especially within urban environments.
Proudly serving as the Founder/Director of WheresYourTree.com, a non-profit organization dedicated to urban green initiatives in Newark, NJ, I have also been recognized as a Rising Tide Capital Community Business alum and a Harvey George Awardee. Additionally, I am honored to serve as a Community Board Advisor to the Urban Agriculture Cooperative.
ART & CURIOSITY
Through interdisciplinary testimonials that inform my creative practices as a writer, media artist, essayist, and poet, I document and affirm the sustainable future of BIPOC communities. My work focuses on creating tools, programs, and funding opportunities that improve the lives of artists and communities of color, aligning with our collective moral responsibility to the planet.
As an author of literary, performance, and academic publications, my work appears in various outlets. Most recently, an excerpt of my new performance work, Testimonies By the Page, was presented as part of the 7th Annual Healing Voices Caregiver Stories on-Stage at ArtHouse in Jersey City as part of the Caregivers Healing Project. My play, Seens, is included in the critically acclaimed anthology "Blacktino Queer Performance," published by Duke University Press. Recent publications also include Lil' Lizzie, an excerpt from the Dill stories, in Darkmatterwomenwitnessing Journal_Issue #14, Eco-Mediations in About Place Journal (VI. Issue II), the Ntozake Shange Tribute in African Voices Magazine, Cranky Chariots (flash fiction) published by Akashic Books, and Anthropology of Consciousness. I have also been featured in WBGO-fm interviews and received grants from the Creative Catalyst Fund (Newark, NJ).
EDUCATOR
In addition, I serve as full-time faculty in the Writing Studies and Theater Arts programs at Montclair State University. Previously, I taught at my alma maters, Goddard College (MFA-IA) and NYU Gallatin (MA). As an ardent educator, keynote speaker, and green-advocate, I focus on shaping actionable outcomes for diverse audiences. I am deeply committed to empowering young people, families, and womxn navigating their mid-and-late-career journeys, as well as individuals of all ages who possess curiosity and a steadfast sense of purpose. Through my methods, workshops, and programs, I strive to equip and inspire folks to realize their potential and make a meaningful impact in their lives and communities.
COMMUNITY PARTNER
In recognition of the challenging times brought about by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, my organization, Where's Your Tree?, was awarded the Newark Creative Catalyst Arts Fund Grant in 2020-21. This grant supported developing and promoting creative engagement initiatives for the city. One of my projects, "Radical Rejuvenation / Gather in the Company of Trees," was conceptualized as a docu-drama series comprising three episodes that featured interviews with Newark residents, artists, healers, and food growers. The resulting podcast series, now archived, served as an important step towards creating restorative forums and mediating tools, which have been a part of my vision since the inception of Where's Your Tree?
Follow us @pamelabooker19
WheresYourTree.com
Advocate and partner for restorative urban green initiatives.
All Photo Gallery images & Video by P. Booker (c.) 2019-2023
Contact: pamela@wheresyourtree.com