For several years the Rockingham Free Library and I had been trying to schedule an opportunity to exhibit my work. Once it was up for the fall months of 2025, I realized how much I loved the work enveloped by books and readers and within the 19th c., Carnegie grant supported architecture. While discussing the Carnegie connection with the director, I learned that our beloved library was one of 1200 in the country still functioning as a library and that the Carnegie Corp of NY was giving each of the Carnegie funded libraries $10,000 in celebration of 250th birthday of The Declaration of Independence. 

The space has become part of the exhibit. The books and chronicles, the origins of each piece of work: a perimeter around the puzzle, you might say. This has led me and the work on our next research adventure, identifying other 19 c. built libraries, specifically those funded by Carnegie. Our journey has begun. 

In addition to the exhibit, I facilitate discussions at the library. Slouching Toward Permaculture: Remediation, Restoration and Recovery maps the evolution of the studio work toward the restoration of the hill behind my house, or as I refer to it, "the mid 19th c. archeological dig site". 

Excerpt from the description- I filled innumerable 50lb chicken feed bags with debris including but not limited to; linoleum flooring, rope, rubber hoses, car parts including batteries and oil filters, plastic trash bags filled with fiberglass insulation, garden tool heads, bed springs, broken dishes and glass bottles, toys, shoes, spent charcoal, etc. The top layer of poor soil consisted of knot weed, brambles, poison ivy and oak, stinging nettles and thistle. All the aggressive plants have slowly been replaced with fruit and nut trees and companion plants to encourage deep roots, nitrogen rich soil, bee pollinators, insect repellents and weed suppressants. In addition I added soil remediators such as mushrooms and clover. The terraces and gardens have become permaculture/phytoremediation/fruit tree guilds. It occurred to me pretty early on that I was literally cleaning up someone else's mess, and that the hill was another example of how the hierarchical structure of patriarchy is destructive to communities and the environment.