Jersey City Earth Day Celebration – City Hall

On Sunday, April 26, 2015, I headed to downtown Jersey City from The Heights with posters, educational literature and art supplies. I arrived at 11 am to set up my table under the large tent in front of City Hall and the Earth Day Celebration began at noon. Frogs Are Green had been invited by Jersey City and the Office of Cultural Affairs to participate (thank you!)

Frogs Are Green table at City Hall, Jersey City

Across the plaza and around the side were vendors selling Earth-friendly items such as honey (Oh Honey)… I gifted them with one of our latest designs, a small mounted Earth Day poster “Save the Honeybee” with stunning micro-photography by Wes Deyton and the owners put it front and center with the products.

Oh Honey in Jersey City

For the next six hours there was a steady stream of visitors stopping by the table. Parents, teachers, artists and environmentalists (of course) asking about the Frogs Are Green organization, discussing the issues frogs face and our newly published six week amphibian and art curriculum.

Mark Lerer, Artist checks out Frog Curriculum

I also told them about the next art exhibition opening inside City Hall on May 7, “Frogs and Their Threatened Environment” showcasing the Jersey City and international winners of the 2014 – 5th Annual Frogs Are Green kids art contest, which will be on display through May 30. (The next contest opens September 2015.)

So many children came by and enjoyed drawing frogs, collecting a few frog stickers and even a few adults (artist friends and local park association leaders) created some frog art! We also had a wonderful Oogaa spoon giveaway, all disappeared!

Mory-displayfrogart-and-imitates-frog

Mory Thomas of the Washington Park Association draws a frog and then imitates one too!

We had lovely cream color recycled paper to draw on and crayons, colored pencils and markers, plus some frog reference (book, posters, etc). It was so interesting to watch the children, some very intensely drawing a frog as best they could, while others just letting loose, scribbling and filling up their paper. Some wanting to draw a tadpole or frog and others a habitat scene. One young girl folded her paper and decided to create an Earth Day card, giving her 4 panels to create on. I noticed that most children worked with markers and colored pencils and weren’t into the crayons. I’ll get more and separate the crayons out for the next outdoor event.

young-girl-creates-earth-day-card

Our shared tent was mostly about children’s activities. Next to me on one side, children were painting little flowers with poster paint and on the other side was the Hudson County Improvement Authority with children’s coloring books among their giveaways.

Below is the FRG gallery so you can get a feel of the beautiful day and a video about the full Earth Day experience with our Mayor Fulop, should be coming from the City of Jersey City (JC1TV) soon…

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