Fungus Festival 2023
Full Program
Andrew Cannon
Fungi of New York City Grocery Stores
All Day (Mushroom ID Area)
Description: Hundreds of species of mushrooms are eaten around the world, and many of them are imported to New York City. In this unscientific survey, fungi of grocery stores in the five boroughs are listed and displayed. Many species for sale are similar to native fungi in our area, while others are unique to the region they come from. All of them have long histories of use in cuisine and/or traditional medicine in NYC and the places they are cultivated or foraged.
About Andrew Cannon: Andrew is an artist and fungi enthusiast.
Aubrey Carter
Lichens of Central Park
12:30-13:00 (Main Stage)
Description: Learn about these overlooked fungi and what they’re really doing when it looks like they’re just hanging out on a rock or a tree. We’ll talk about basic lichen anatomy, ecosystem services they provide in the park, and why they’re an important marker for air quality.. We’ll also look at some of the more easily identifiable lichen that you, too, can find the next time you’re in the park.
About Aubrey Carter: Aubrey has worked at several different ecological institutions in and around the NYC area, including the Central Park Conservancy, the Westchester Land Trust, the Stamford Land Conservation Trust, and Sleepy Cat Farm. He is currently the Assistant Ecological Manager at Manitou Point Preserve in Garrison, NY where he stewards the land and cultivates mushrooms. Aubrey publishes a newsletter every Monday, entitled 'Mushroom Monday', which features photos and a profile of a different mushroom he has found throughout his travels. All archived posts can be read on mushroom-monday.com. He leads public mushroom walks through his newsletter, private mushroom walks with Catskill Fungi, and is an active member in both the New York Mycological Society and Mid-Hudson Mycological Association. He lives in Putnam County and hopes to start his own farm soon.
Bethany Beech
Fungal Dyes
All day (Mushroom ID Area)
About Bethany Beech: Bethany Beech is an amateur mycologist from New York City with a particular interest in Lactarius and Lactifluus mushrooms. Over the past two years, she found herself seeking more information about the taxonomy of these notoriously complicated genera. Unable to find satisfying answers in books and papers, her quest led her to learn DNA sequencing and to stumble upon many undescribed species.
Bethany Beech
The Maple-scented Lactarius of the Tri-state Area
11:45-12:15 (Main Stage)
About Bethany Beech: Bethany Beech is an amateur mycologist from New York City with a particular interest in Lactarius and Lactifluus mushrooms. Over the past two years, she found herself seeking more information about the taxonomy of these notoriously complicated genera. Unable to find satisfying answers in books and papers, her quest led her to learn DNA sequencing and to stumble upon many undescribed species.
BioBus
Microscopy
All day (Mushroom ID Area)
Description: Come hang with BioBus and zoom into nature at 40-100X magnification with mini microscopes. Roam on rhizomes and other samples, talk about microbes and mycelium with community scientists.
About BioBus: BioBus helps K-12 and college students in New York City discover, explore, and pursue science. We focus on students excluded from the scientific community due to factors such as race, gender, economic status, and physical access. Through this work, we envision a world where all people have the opportunity to reach their full scientific potential.
Biotech Without Borders
An Introduction to fungal DNA Sequencing
All day (Mushroom ID Area)
Description: Learn about how fungi can be sequenced via simple equipment to find out the species and how that species is related to the whole fungal tree of life.
About Biotech without Borders: Biotech Without Borders is a self-sustaining community of scientists committed to increasing the accessibility of scientific resources and knowledge, especially among socially and economically marginalized groups. We provide education, lab facilities, and a forum for critical discussions to support responsible innovation in biotechnology.
Blacki Migliozzi
Glowing Fungi from the Amazon to NYC
All day (Mushroom ID area)
Description: Dive into the captivating realm of fluorescence and bioluminescence within the fungi kingdom. Whether in the dense jungles of the Peruvian Amazon or the urban parks of New York City, Blacki has tirelessly documented his encounters with glowing fungi and lichens over the years. Through anecdotes and engaging photography, he will guide you on a journey to discover these mesmerizing organisms in their unique habitats.
About Blacki Migliozzi: Blacki Migliozzi is an award-winning journalist and amateur biologist who has learned biology hands-on through DIY maker spaces like Biotech Without Borders and Genspace. He has been a member of several gold medal-winning teams competing in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. More recently he has spent several seasons doing genomics fieldwork in the jungles of Central and South America.
Bronx River Foodway
Medicinal Mushroom Tea Tasting
11:15 (Mushrooms as Medicine area)
Registration required! Mushroom tea tasting registration
Description Medicinal Mushroom Tea Tasting: Join Bronx River Foodway in the Brew Garden where herbalist Journei Bimwala and the Bronx River Foodway team will share the many health benefits of medicinal mushroom teas. Attendees will be invited to sample and mix their own tea blends, balancing flavor profiles with health benefits.
About Bronx River Foodway: The Bronx River Foodway is one of New York City’s only edible food forest. This perennial edible landscape is integrated within Concrete Plant Park in the south Bronx. Initially a pilot project, the Bronx River Foodway jump-starts the imagination, reconnecting community to land within the city.
Cornell Small Farms - Community Mushroom Educators Program
Myco-Planters / Mico-macetas
13:00 - 15:00 (Cultivation Station)
Registration required! Click to Register
Description: The workshop will use hemp shives (an agricultural by-product) and animal paper bedding to create small mycelium-based planters. It will be guided by Cecilia de la Fuente and the community mushroom educators team.
About Cornell Small Farms Mushroom Educator Program: Our vision is to build a cohort of educators from urban and rural centers to increase access to mushroom knowledge in diverse communities around the US.
Costume Corner
Create Mushroom-Themed Hats and Costumes
All day (Art Shed)
Description: A place where kids and adults are encouraged to create their own mushroom themed hats and costumes. Face painting is also offered.
Dawn Petter
The Health Benefits Of Medicinal Mushrooms or Medicinal Mushrooms and How To Use Them
14-14:45 (Mushrooms as Medicine area)
Description: Medicinal mushrooms offer great benefits to our overall health. In this workshop, you'll learn how to incorporate their benefits into daily life, which mushrooms to choose, and the best way to prepare them for food and medicine. Recipes included.
About Dawn Petter: Dawn Petter is a clinical herbalist and flower essence practitioner based in New York City. She is a graduate of Arbor Vitae School of Traditional Herbalism and is trained as a flower essence practitioner with Delta Gardens and Findhorn Essences. Dawn offers in depth health consults to clients, teaches classes, formulates her herbal skincare brand, Petalune Herbals, and is dedicated to bringing the joys of herbal medicine to clients and students alike. You can find her teaching at NY, Brooklyn and Chicago Botanic Gardens and leading retreats and workshops at hotels and corporations across the States.
Diana Richards - CANCELLED!
Flora, Fauna or Funga?
All day (Mushroom ID area)
Description of kids’ activity: Join us for an interactive presentation that explores the fascinating differences between Flora, Fauna, and Funga! In this engaging session, we'll create a "Flora, Fauna, Funga or Fiction?" fortune teller/quiz master to test your knowledge and have fun distinguishing between these intriguing elements of the natural world. Get ready to embark on a journey of discovery and learn more about the wonders of Flora, Fauna, and Funga!
About Diana Richards: Diana is an experienced educator who spent 15 years teaching before embarking on a journey with the Fungi Foundation. As the Education Lead for the past 3 years, she is devoted to assisting with the development of a free mycological school curriculum and promoting awareness about the extraordinary world of fungi on a global scale.
Diana Richards - CANCELLED!
Unlock the Magic of Fungi: Fungi Education Lessons & Resources
14-14:30 pm Main Stage
Description of talk: Learn about free mycological curriculum resources that empower adults to teach their children about the captivating world of fungi. Discover engaging materials for a fun and enriching learning adventure. Together, let's cultivate a lifelong love for nature and environmental conservation with our comprehensive teaching resources. Don't miss out on inspiring the next generation of environmentally conscious individuals!
About Diana Richards: Diana is an experienced educator who spent 15 years teaching before embarking on a journey with the Fungi Foundation. As the Education Lead for the past 3 years, she is devoted to assisting with the development of a free mycological school curriculum and promoting awareness about the extraordinary world of fungi on a global scale.
Elan Trybuch
Myxomycetes: Slime-tastic
Fun-guys of the Microbial World!
All day (Mushroom ID Area)
Description: New York City myxomycete identification workshop, demystifying the common slime molds and learning how to key them out.
About Elan Trybuch: Elan Trybuch is a software engineer by trade and is currently overseeing 3 teams at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In his free time, he may be found inspecting decorticated logs in the woods looking for slimes. Elan is also the Secretary of the New York Mycological Society and also builds and maintains their online footprint.
Fungal Diversity Survey aka FUNDIS
People Protecting Fungi: Community Scientists for Conservation
All day (Mushroom ID Area)
Description: Visit the FUNDIS Table for resources and educational materials on the importance of fungal biodiversity and conservation and how to get involved with FUNDIS, including the Green-Wood Cemetery Fungi Phenology Project, where co-founder Potter Palmer will talk about some of the common and rare fungi of Green-Wood Cemetery and the FUNDIS Local Projects initiative.
About Fungal Diversity Survey: Fungal Diversity Survey ("FUNDIS") is North America's only nonprofit for fungal biodiversity and conservation. We protect fungi and their habitats through education, engaging community scientists, and partnering with conservationists and scientists.
Erik Nauman
Fungal Electronics
All day (Mushroom ID Area)
Description:Fungal Electronics is a collection of mycelium projects with embedded electronics (except for a mycelium bowl). Mycelium growth forms were made from cardboard and single use plastic containers, such as take-out plastic. Last spring my high school students learned to make mycelium lampshades and to program embedded LED lights to make their own wonderful biodegradable lights. The other projects are my own, made as experiments to see how we can house electronics in more sustainable materials.
About Erik Nauman: Erik Nauman has been experimenting with growing and teaching with mycelium for several years, recently focusing on integrating electronics with mycelium forms. He exhibited his and his students’ mycelium projects—including lamps, a digital clock, and solar panel—at the 2023 NYC Resistor Interactive Show, and received honorable mention recognition for his mycelium desktop computer in the GrowBio Mycelium design contest.
Erik teaches technology and fabrication at The Hewitt School, where he has taught middle and high school for 20 years.
Green-Wood Cemetery
Bookmarks to Dye For! Making Bookmarks with Natural Dyes
All day
Description: We’ll be creating beautiful bookmarks using dye from fungi (inky caps, Dead Man’s Foot) and plants. An activity for kids and adults.
About Green-Wood Cemetery: Green-Wood is a living cemetery that brings people closer to the world as it is and was, by memorializing the dead and bringing to life the art, history, and natural beauty of New York City. Green-Wood is 478 spectacular acres of hills, valleys, glacial ponds, and paths, throughout which exists one of the largest outdoor collections of nineteenth- and twentieth-century statuary and mausoleums. Four seasons of beauty from century-and-a-half-old trees offer a peaceful oasis to visitors, as well as its 570,000 permanent residents. A magnet for history buffs and bird watchers, and a registered member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System.
James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center
Vegan pizzas and Gnocchi
12-14.30 (next to Mushrooms as Medicine zone)
About James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center: A garden community and farmers’ market in the Bronx. Our mission is to strive for inquiry and project-based solutions at the juncture of food, environmental and social justice. Our goal is to build a healthier and greener, resilient community by engaging, integrating, educating and serving student and community members, especially low income and marginalized people, in collaboration with numerous partner organizations with common interests.
Josh Steinberg
Candy Cap Ice Cream
12:15 (Main Stage)
Description: Dessert enthusiasts may not typically associate mushrooms with sweet treats, but specific varieties can open up a world of imaginative culinary opportunities. Sourced from within the wild forests of Northern California, Candy Cap mushrooms exhibit a captivating talent - they can mimic the enticing fragrance and flavor of pure maple syrup when dried. While the classic appeal of butter pecan ice cream remains undeniable, utilizing Candy Cap mushrooms introduces an intriguing and unexpected twist to the flavor. Instead of the familiar nutty decadence, prepare to savor the delightful, earthy essence reminiscent of genuine maple in this unconventional flavor experience.
About Josh Steinberg: Josh Steinberg's unexpected foray into mushroom cultivation during the COVID pandemic sparked a profound passion for all things fungi. Beginning with oyster mushrooms, he quickly delved deep into the world of edible fungi, which launched him on a culinary journey to merge his newfound fascination with his existing love for ice cream. He has since been experimenting with flavors that defy the misconception that mushrooms can only taste like dirt.
Jules Zuckerberg
Risograph Prints, Zines, Stickers, Buttons and T-shirts
All day (vendor)
About Jules Zuckerberg: Jules Zuckerberg (they/he) is a mycologically obsessed queer & trans interdisciplinary illustrator and amateur forager. Jules’ love for fungi inoculates their varied practices, from sketchbook mushroom marginalia, to prints, riso zines, and sculptural explorations featuring fungus forms. He is an organizing member of Binch Press x Queer.Archive.Work, a cooperative print studio and library based in Providence RI.
Kate Ray
Shroomify anything!
All day
Description: Come to this interactive workshop to learn how to shroomify any dish you like! Chef Kate will be providing worksheets and guidance about different cooking techniques for mushrooms, from juicy pressed lion's mane steaks to shiitake whipped cream. You'll have the opportunity to create (and eat) one of two vegetarian mushroom crostini snacks, inspired by meat and seafood flavors.
About Kate Ray: Kate Ray is a cooking instructor and chef who specializes in mushroom-based foods. She teaches kids’ classes at Hudson Table as well as an improv cooking workshop for adults called No Recipe. Her goal is to help people of all ages learn to trust their own tastes in the kitchen and express themselves through cooking. She also writes a newsletter about food and shares original recipes at kateray.substack.com and https://readymag.com/u93341639/1206893.
Katina Rogers
Unexpected Flourishing: Growth from Decay in the Mycelial University
11-11:30 (Main Stage)
Description: This project is about rotting logs, higher education, and critical hope. In it, I focus on interdependence, coalition building, and collective thriving using a lens mycorrhizal fungi and mycoremediation. These multispecies ecologies thrive even (or especially) in less-than-pristine conditions. What if that kind of collectivity were a baseline for education? My book offers a speculative consideration of what might be possible with different value structures. Just as mushrooms spring up from the rot of the forest floor and return nutrients to depleted soil, perhaps something new might emerge in higher education from the decomposing remnants of what came before.
About Katina Rogers: Katina Rogers, PhD, is a writer, educator, and independent scholar. She works to make universities more equitable and joyful, and is forever thinking about what emerges from the ruins. She is the author of Presence of Absence: Meditations on the Unsayable in Writing (punctum books, 2024) and Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving in and Beyond the Classroom (Duke University Press, 2020). Her current writing project considers what might be possible in a mycelial university.
Kelly Street Garden
Cultivation Workshop, a Journey: Failure, Resistance, Persistence
12-13 (Cultivation Station)
Description:We will go on a journey of how failure bred success with the help of many, resistance to giving up, and persistence is its own reward. Let's share our cultivation journey weaving our fungal network. I will demonstrate the various methods of cultivation I've used: Laundry Baskets, crates, 5-gallon buckets, and discuss the mushroom chamber.
About Kelly Street Garden: The core mission of the garden is to provide healthy food and community programming to our local South Bronx residents free of charge. This not only feeds people physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Through Art workshops, Qi Gong, Yoga, cooking demos and herbal medicine we have created a space where the stressors of the community and daily life can be left at the door. Through our free distribution market, we have direct interaction with our neighbors in providing and educating a path to better nutrition. We cast a light on the healing components of food, justice, equality, culture, coupled with the opportunity to improve mind and body. Kelly Street Garden aims to be an oasis of healing in a community that has faced many challenges over the past several decades.
Latino Outdoors
Paseo de Hongos en Español
13:00 - 15:00 (Cultivation Station)
Registration required! Click to Register
(walk) Paseo de Hongos en Español/Spanish Language Mushroom Walk 11am-12pm, Foray Registration required! RegisterDescripción: Aprenda sobre los hongos otoñales comunes de la isla Randall en esta caminata sobre hongos en español.
Description: Learn about the common fall mushrooms of Randall’s Island on this Spanish language mushroom walk. Meet at the foray gathering area.
About Latino Outdoors: Latino Outdoors is a unique, Latinx-led organization working in support of a national community of leaders in outdoor recreation, conservation and environmental education. As part of this work, we focus on expanding and amplifying the Latinx experience in the outdoors.
Lindsay Robbins
Risograph posters, Zines, T-shirts and Watercolors
All Day (vendor)
Description: Merchandise, including our beautiful Fungus Festival flyer which Lindsay designed from the art work of many contributors.
About Lindsay Robbins:
Lindsay is co-founder of NYC Nature Drawing Club, a free art club open to anyone, together with Margot Dorn. Both are members of NYMS who met at last year's 2022 Fungus Festival. They gather together to draw the natural world. They try to have monthly drawing meet ups outdoors around NYC and provide limited art materials. If you are interested in joining simply email: nycnaturedrawingclub@gmail.comMargot Dorn
Field Sketching for Mushroom Identification
13:30-14:15 (Art Shed)
Description: Field notes is qualitative documentation of observations of an organism or natural phenomenon. In this class I will help you think about how drawing is an essential part of recording observations, as well as a practice that helps you slow down, unplug, and observe more deeply. In partnership with photography, drawing remains an essential tool for Scientific documentation and understanding what you observe in nature. With each specimen I will help you name and record identifying characteristics with a goal of helping you become more confident of your identifications in the field.
About Margot Margot Dorn: Margot is a High School art teacher that enjoys observing and documenting mushrooms in the field. She co-founded NYC Nature Drawing Club that organizes monthly meet-ups at a variety of locations in and around the five boroughs such as The American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, and Harriman State Park. She believes that careful observation makes us better artists and better stewards of nature.
Matylda's Food
Mushroom Pierogies and more
12-13:00 (food vendor)
About Matylda's Food: Delicious, home-made pierogies including mushroom pierogies
Max March-Steinman
Distillates and Tinctures: Creating Extracts and Powders
11-11.30 (Mushrooms as Medicine area)
Description: A hands-on workshop for people to make their own tinctures and learn about combination ethanol and hot water extraction to get full-spectrum extracts of mushroom fruiting bodies
About Max March-Steinman: Max March-Steinman (he/him) is a science teacher, aerialist, coach, trainer, and movement researcher, carrying the equivalent of a dozen years of expertise in the field. However, he also has an abiding interest in stewardship and mycology. He focuses on the intersection of wellness and biology, prioritizing science communication to the public. His favorite mushroom is the indigo milkcap.
Mi Oh My Farms
“Everything Coffee”: Growing Mushrooms in Cities with Wasted Materials
11-12:00 (table all day on the Field + workshop)
Registration required! Click to Register
Description: Mycelium has the power to transform the way we manage food wastage in urban life. MiOhMy farms are pioneering methods to reduce food and organic waste as a means of climate change mitigation–and they’re using low tech mushroom farming to do it! Come grab a cup of Joe courtesy of Buunni Cafe, and learn about how to grow mushrooms at home in NYC, the Mi Oh My Farms way! This workshop will teach participants how to grow mushrooms from coffee grinds and other organic materials we can divert from landfills. Participants will take home a premade mushroom bag to fruit on their own at home, and be connected with other workshop resources offered by Mi Oh My Farms.
About MiOhMy Farms: MiOhMy Hydroponic Farms is a worker-owned hydroponic farm and educational organization with a mission to improve food access for the food insecure, while also providing opportunities for BIPOC communities to build generational wealth using Cooperative Economics and Just Transition principles, a vision-led, unifying and place-based set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power. We exist to be a model of the new economy!
Museo de Hongo
Clay Mushroom Modeling Workshop
13-14:00 (Art Shed)
Description: Inspired by the Extreme Unique Collection (extremophile fungi), the workshop is an invitation to create artwork with a personal, expressive purpose based on the observation of the natural environment. Real or imaginary mushrooms, everyone is welcome to play with the clay. Languages: English & Spanish. Host: María Luisa Portuondo Vila (Museo del Hongo) An art activity for people of all ages.
About Museo de Hongo: Museo del Hongo (Fungus Museum) is the first pop-up museum that operates at the intersection between the arts, mycology, and technology. Founded in 2016 by designer Juan Ferrer in Santiago, Chile, the Museum seeks to combine contemporary artistic practices with scientific investigation, designing immersive experiences that present a wide array of works. Like mushrooms, the Museum can turn up anywhere, with the purpose of raising awareness among diverse audiences about the socioecological relevance of fungi, inspiring and promoting their investigation from any discipline.
New York Mycological Society
Fall Fungi Mushroom Walks
12:30 and 13:30 (walks)
Registration required! Click to Register
Description: Learn about the common fall mushrooms of Randall’s Island on this walk which will be guided by an expert from the New York Mycological Society, NYC’s mushroom club. Meet at the foray gathering area. Support our bid to get New York State its own state mushroom by dropping by the State Mushroom Initiative table and sign the petition.
About the New York Mycological Society: The New York Mycological Society in partnership with Sneha Ganguly @kalimushrooms is the organizer of Fungus Festival 2023. We believe that passionate amateurs are important contributors to mycology and conservation. We’re a volunteer-run non-profit organization dedicated to spreading knowledge, love and appreciation of fungi and to educate people on the important role of fungi in our ecosystems.
NYC Parks GreenThumb
Cultivation-Inspired Coloring Book
(Field All day)
Description: Work on a beautiful cultivation-inspired coloring book.
About NYC Parks GreenThumb: Established in 1978, NYC Parks GreenThumb is proud to be the nation's largest urban gardening program, sustaining over 550 community gardens and supporting thousands of volunteer gardeners throughout New York City.
NYU Mycology Group
“Have you ever…?” Mushroom Bingo
12.30 - 13:00 (Games, table all day)
Description: join NYU Myco Group for bingo with a fun twist. Different fungi will be called out at random, and if you have it on board and have done the prompt associated with it, you are free to circle it on your board. 4 across, down, or up gets you bingo. Small prizes for the first 3 winners and NYU Myco Group stickers for all participants. We will also have mushroom snacks and leftover stickers to give people afterwards if they stop by and chat.
About NYU Mycology group: Education, cultivation, restoration
Phyllis Ma
T-shirts and zines
(vendor)
Description: Come grab this year’s official festival t-shirt and other goodies designed by Phyllis Ma.
About Phyllis Ma: Phyllis Ma is a New York-based artist specializing in still life photography, some of which features fungi. Recently, she's been interested in archival research and writing on the history of the New York Mycological Society and the role of women in the popularization of amateur mycology. Follow her on Instagram!
POC Psychedelic Collective and Liberation Flow
Unearthing Mysteries: A Journey into Fungus, Psychedelics, Spirituality, and Culture
13-14:00 (Mushrooms as Medicine area)
Description: Join us for an hour-long exploration of the spiritual significance of fungi in cultures around the world. We will briefly introduce ourselves before discussing the evolving landscape of psychedelics through the lens of people of color. We will seal the event with energy and yoga practice.
This discussion is for adults! The workshop is first come, first serve! 16 yoga mats and chairs for accessibility will be provided. Please bring your own mats, blankets, and seating to follow along.
About POC Psychedelic Collective: The POCPC brings psychedelic education to people of color. Our organization creates spaces for people of color to learn about the harms of the war on drugs and the healing properties of psychedelics. We are committed to helping build a healing infrastructure that centers care, affordability, and accessibility for communities of color while reducing harm. We provide outreach, events, and educational content created by and for people of color to further our collective knowledge. We aim to build our table instead of asking for a seat at another.
About Liberation Flow: Liberation Flow is an organization for and by BIPOC, grown to support protests during the Black Lives Matter movement, people around the country for weekly online Zoom classes and local community park classes. They also create zines and resources that educate about yoga philosophy.
Randall’s Island Urban Farm
Farm tour
14:00 (walk)
Description: Find out more about the innovative urban agriculture and educational programming that's happening at Randall's Island Urban Farm.
About Randall’s Island Urban Farm: The Randall’s Island Park Alliance’s Urban Farm is a 40,000 square foot environmentally sustainable farm and outdoor classroom at Randall’s Island Park. Since its inception in 2006, the Urban Farm has grown in size and scope—now featuring over 100 raised beds, two greenhouses, four rice paddies, and a small fruit tree orchard. With over 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables from around the world, the Urban Farm provides visitors across New York City with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of where food comes from. Through hands-on classes and free public events focused on sustainability, cooking, planting, and composting, farm visitors of all ages can explore locally grown food in an urban environment.
Riitta Ikonen
Posters, Postcards, Stained Glass Light Catcher Mushrooms and Caps
(vendor)
About Riitta Ikonen: Originally from the deep eastern Finnish forests, Riitta Ikonen’s work mediates interaction between people and their environment that materializes as performance, video, wearable sculptures and photographic portraiture.The collaborative project Eyes as Big as Plates, was nominated ‘Best first photobook in the world' at the Paris Photo / Aperture Foundation’s Photobook Awards and she has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, London 2012 Olympic Park and the PyeongChang Olympics amongst others. Ikonen is based at Rockaway Beach in New York. She is a member of the American Stinkhorn Society (A.S.S.) as well as a synchronized sea swimmer and she lectures, exhibits and performs around the world with various collaborators.
Roberta Trentin
Funga Paper Workshop
12:15-13:00 (Art Shed)
Description: Mushrooms are an excellent alternative source for paper making. The workshop will start with a brief introduction to mushroom paper making and how it differs from cellulose-based paper. We will then learn different paper-making techniques and assemblages and dive into making postcard-size sheets. All materials included.
About Roberta Trentin: Roberta Trentin is a multi-disciplinary artist who works in collaboration with the materials and the unknown outcomes. Her work explores overlooked stories of fungi and plants in the more-than-human world. A background in science and a love of the earth result in an interweaving of macro/micro-observations and deeply personal stories. Roberta has been experimenting with mushroom paper for the past two years. Her desire is to provide artists with an alternative and regenerative material that protects the forests from extractive processes. In her practice, Roberta uses the paper to create sculptural assemblages that speak about life flows and entanglements. Roberta splits her time between the forests of the Hudson Valley and Brooklyn.
Robin Rollan/Black Yogis
Deeply Rooted in Nature: Finding Zen in Fungi
12:00-12.30 (Mushrooms as Medicine area)
Registration required! Click to Register
Description: Join Robin for a transformative 30-minute yoga and mindfulness session inspired by fungi, the unsung heroes of our interconnected world. Fungi establish mycorrhizal networks with trees, creating a forest- wide fungal internet for essential exchanges of nutrients and knowledge. This powerful metaphor emphasizes the importance of both human interconnectedness and our connection with nature. Moreover, fungi's role in decomposing and transforming organic matter mirrors personal growth. Through breathwork, gentle yoga poses, and mindfulness, we will explore these concepts, igniting your potential for personal growth and deeper connections. Mats will be provided, or you may bring your mat if preferred.
About Robin Rollan: Robin Rollan is a dedicated yoga and mindfulness practitioner with over a decade of experience, exploring various yoga styles, including Hatha, Vinyasa flow, Hot Yoga (formerly Bikram Hot Yoga), Ashtanga, and Kemetic YogaTM. In 2019, she completed a 200-hour Kemetic YogaTM teacher training in Egypt with Master teacher Yiser Ra Hotep (Elvrid Lawrence). Kemetic YogaTM, grounded in the ancient Egyptian system of Yoga enlightenment, integrates physical movements with controlled deep breathing and meditation. In the realm of meditation and mindfulness, Robin's path has been deeply influenced by Tibetan Buddhism in the Shambhala tradition, earning her a 200-hour Mindfulness Instructor Training certificate from the Shambhala Meditation Center in 2018. Driven by a commitment to community, Robin teaches yoga in various community spaces, including the James Baldwin Farmer’s Market and the Bronx River Alliance. She has also developed tailored yoga and mindfulness programs for urban communities. Robin's practice is rooted in fostering inclusive and community-oriented environments, addressing the underrepresentation of Black and people of color in yoga. She created the Blackyogis Tumblr blog to showcase the diversity of yoga practitioners. With a passion for inclusivity and mindfulness, Robin is dedicated to making yoga and mindfulness accessible to all, enriching lives in diverse communities through these transformative practices.
Robin will also sell her T-shirts in the merchandise area!
Roman Kosoy
To Eat or not to Eat: Edible and Poisonous and Meh Mushrooms Around Us
All Day (Mushroom ID Area)
Description: To educate about the diversity and characteristics of the mushrooms that we can, should not, or MUST NOT consume. The key aspect is to enforce the rule that THERE ARE NO RULES when it comes to determining the edibility of a mushroom, and that there are no good shortcuts when deciding whether a given mushroom can be consumed. Importantly, it is important to realize that the edibility of some mushrooms is not always an absolute quality and ability to consume a number of mushrooms depends on an individual, and cannot be predicted.
About Romany Kosoy: Roman is a computational immunologist endeavoring to understand what keeps us alive. As a mycophile he endeavors to understand what does not kill us.
Smallhold
Farm-Grown Gourmet Mushrooms
All Day (vendor)
About Smallhold: By growing mushrooms in communities around the country, we’re helping people reconnect with their food, environment, and farmers. You can find mushrooms everywhere—and everywhere you find mushrooms, you’ll find mushroom people. The first thing we do when we set up a new farm is tap into the mycelium-like network of mushroom growers, eaters, and activists that share our interests and values. Our goal is to build direct connections with mycophiles, artists, farmers, ranchers, and others looking to celebrate fungi, build soil fertility, and grow their own food and plants.
Sol Aramendi
Impresión con hongos/Mushroom Prints
11:30-14:30 (Art Shed)
Description: Join artist Sol Aramendi from the Noguchi Museum to get inspired by Japanese mushroom haikus and create prints on paper. In English and Spanish.
About Sol Aramendi: Sol Aramendi (b. Argentina; lives in the United States) is a socially engaged artist working with immigrant communities throughout New York City. She has been a teaching artist at the Noguchi Museum since 2015. She encourages new immigrants to empower themselves through art. Her participatory practice lives at the intersection of immigration, labor, and art. She joined NYMS in 2021 and has been a fan of community mycology since then.
Spencer “Zeke” Depas
Introduction To Cloning Mushrooms
All day (table)
Description: We will be going over what is needed to clone mushrooms in an at home lab setting. We will have everything we need to clone mushrooms and we will be available for answering questions. We will also be giving away mushroom culture pets which you can cultivate or just admire them as they grow.
About Spencer “Zeke” Depas: Zeke Depas/Brooklyn Mushroom is exploring mycology in New York with growing mushrooms, building community, and organizing mycology events. Brooklyn Mushroom takes a holistic view of mycology and is pursuing development in cultural, spiritual, cultivation, food, health and science dimensions and more.
Steven Bodzin
Photographing Fungi
13:15-13:45 (Main Stage)
Description: Learn how to capture the beauty of mushrooms in compelling pictures. You’ll learn techniques for shooting quickly and on the move, slowly and diligently, with special techniques for very small fungi that require close up shots.
About Steven Bodzin: Steven is a reporter and writer who used to avoid taking photos, convinced that writing about things was a better way to remember them. He is now an obsessive nature photographer, documenting not only fungi but also plants and animals. He is especially interested in how looking at very small organisms allows us to enter wilderness without leaving the city, or even leaving home.
Solar One of Stuy Cove Park and The C.U.R.B.
Mushroom Ale Tasting (21+ only)
11:15 (Mushrooms as Medicine area)
Registration required! Mushroom Ale tasting registration (21+)
Description Mushroom Ale Tasting (21+ only): Join Stuy Cove Park staff in the brew garden and become a taste tester for a series of ales made with mushrooms common to the North East. Ages 21+
About CURB/Stuy Cove Park: CURB: The Collaborative Urban Resilience Banquet. Adapting to the climate crisis by meeting (and eating) our non-human neighbors; a multi-species experiment in many parts. Stuy Cove Park/Solar 1: NYC’s sustainability education resource, supporting programs at Stuy Cove Park, a native food forest.
Taqueria Nixtamal
Authentic Mexican Tacos
12-15:00 (vendor)
About Taqueria Nixtamal: Taqueria Nixtamal is a family run hidden gem serving classic Mexican dishes. Guacamole, birria, mole poblano, and of course tacos, including tacos featuring mushrooms. All of their tortillas are always fresh and produced on site, never store bought.
The Interbeing Project
Shroomscape, the Original Mycelium Mindset Board Game
All day (table/activity)
Registration required! Click to Register
Description: Come play The Interbeing Project's Shroomscape is The IBP’s original mycelium-mindset board game. We use Shroomscape as a space to invite collaboration, competition, and play between mycelium, humans, and slime mold! By doing so, the project seeks to interrogate rigid, anthropocentric boundaries around notions of intelligence and agency, by enveloping the human within the term ‘interspecies,’ while exploring the ways in which a multiplicity of species experience intra-action and play.
We will be running up to 8 rounds of the game at a time, with four player slots (with the option to play either individually or as a pair) at each game. Each round will last about an hour and we will run sessions throughout the festival in the Shroomscape booth.
We recommend signing up for a slot before the event to reserve your place! Please do so individually or as a pair - fill out the Eventbrite registration a single time either case. We will be playing on picnic blankets with a few tables - if you are in need of accommodation please indicate this on the Eventbrite.
About The Interbeing Project: The Interbeing Project is an exploration into ways of becoming with each other [co-becoming] in a shared world, through a series of relational entanglements that blur and question boundaries between beings [such as species boundaries]. Drawing from artistic, scientific and subjective knowledge practices, our research asks how humans may embody a shift in consciousness that might sustain these dynamic networks and evolve an exchange between inter-being ways of knowing and being.
Zuki Wallace
Fungal Rusts: The Long and Short of It
All day (poster/display)
Description: Most people likely haven’t heard of the fungal group of Rusts. Essentially, they are obligatory pathogenic fungi that only infect plants, often alternating between two hosts. In this poster, you’ll learn about the group’s common characteristics, glimpse some example members, get a sense of their ecological roles + effects, and, of course, see an overview of their fascinating life cycles.
About Brandon (Zuki): Brandon “Zuki” Wallace (he/they) is a SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry alum, and has also attended CUNY Queens College. Their foundational interests and studies lie primarily in mycology, botany, dendrology, and entomology. They strive to make their community more knowledgeable about fungi, plants, trees, insects, and biology in general.
