In this talk, artist and naturalist Kayla Powers will discuss the experiential research that informs her place-based art practice. Years of gardening and city living have given rise to her unique approach to foraging for plants in an urban environment. She will describe the process and inspiration behind her “living quilts”, the role of beauty in art, and the importance of cultivating a relationship with place. 

Kayla Powers is a fiber artist living and working in the North End of Detroit, Michigan. Kayla creates ecologically focused textile art to explore the common threads of our shared humanity. Her work has been exhibited in fine art galleries, a natural history museum, public parks, farms, and on the side of an old liquor store. Kayla is interested in human ecology, craft traditions, and the interconnectedness of all beings. She seeks color in locally foraged plants in an ongoing exploration of time and place.