This document provides an overview of the programs and resources offered by the Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design (ISLAND). ISLAND is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting people with nature, art, and community. Their programs include a farmer residency program, food and farming workshops, guilds, an annual small farm conference, and artist residencies. They also offer resources like a canning kitchen, mobile poultry processing trailer, community art space, and lending library. The document provides links to learn more about different programs and ways for people to get involved.

1. LINKS OF USE
scan the QR code with your smart phone
or type in the link to learn more.
FARMER RESIDENCY
Now accepting applications for 2014. More
information and application info:
bit.ly/FARMrez
WE ARE HIRING
A Food and Farm Events
Coordinator. Full description:
institute for sustainable living,
art & natural design
ISLAND is a non-profit arts and ecology center dedicated
to connecting people with nature, art and community.
ISLAND helps people become native to place by:
INSTITUTE
S U S TA I N A B L E L I V I N G , A R T
N AT U R A L D E S I G N
for
&
ISL AND PROGR A MS
in a NUTSHELL
• supporting artists—visionaries, conceptual explorers
and compelling communicators—with dedicated time,
space and resources to create new work;
bit.ly/ISLANDjob
• restoring the old and developing the new skills and
traditions of community self-reliance;
JOIN THE ISLAND MAILING LIST
• creating and sharing a broad collection of tools for
ecological living.
For program and event info via email or mail
(this link may require a PC to open):
bit.ly/GetINFO
CONTRIBUTE
institute for sustainable living,
art & natural design
5870 Cottage Drive • Bellaire, MI 49615
231.622.5252
Your support is what makes this all happen.
More information and a chance to donate:
bit.ly/ISLANDsupport
SAVE THE DATE: BENEFIT AT SHORT’S BREW
With Seth Bernard, Gifts or Creatures, Graham Parsons
and the Go Rounds and more TBA. Silent auction.
Saturday, April 19th from 4pm till late.
island
w w w. A RTmee t sE A RT H.org
a concise compendium of ongoing projects, links to
more information and relevant current news.
G E N E R A L I N F O R M AT I O N A N D I N S P I R AT I O N

2. 10 Ways to Build Resilient Rural Communities
ISLAND PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Farmer Residency Program at Maple Bay
An ecological farming program designed to launch the careers of
experienced but landless farmers.
ONE. THINK AGRARIAN
Build agricultural and ecological diversity,
protect land for agriculture, train new farmers,
create local markets for local food, hallow
good soil, value limits and practice thrift.
A host of hands-on workshops helping people to become more
sufficient for themselves and their communities.
Guilds
Going beyond simple workshops to create informal networks for
learning, community building and mutual support.
An annual event bringing farmers, homesteaders and concerned
eaters together for good conversation and targeted learning.
Preservation Station
A canning kitchen on wheels that can be towed onto
local small farms at the peak of produce ripeness and
unpacked into a food preservation teaching kitchen.
Chicken Coupe
A licensed poultry processing trailer that helps small farmers
transition into raising chickens for direct on-farm sales.
Bellaire Community Hall
An art, workshop and community space in downtown Bellaire.
Members’ Library
4,000+ titles on art, food and farming, permaculture, alternative
energy, eco-building and general DIY topics.
clip n’ save, or come up with your own 10 ways!
Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference
Walk and bike, make your own methane or
biodiesel, schedule a home energy audit, use the
sun, wind, and well–managed forests, conserve,
conserve, conserve, and learn where your energy
comes from now.
THREE. LOVE GREAT ART
Food and Farming Workshops
SEVEN. KEEP ENERGY LOCAL
Avoid chain stores, find local substitutes for
imports, create micro-lending funds, barter and
use local currencies, mortgage with a local bank
or credit union and ask the local ecology what it
needs and what it can provide—start there.
Time and space to support musicians, writers and non-studio
artists, nestled in the woods near the Jordan River.
Join a club, throw a party, loan books and tools,
join a community garden, meet your neighbors,
welcome differences, reject stereotypes, give
your time and abstain from screens.
TWO. BUILD A LOCAL ECONOMY
Hill House Artist Residency
SIX. CULTIVATE RELATIONSHIPS
EIGHT. THINK AND ACT BIOREGIONALLY
Make your own art, thank an artist, take risks,
learn an instrument, memorize songs, poems,
prayers and stories, and give money and attention
to the new and unproven.
Learn the local plants and animals, forage,
map your watershed, get outside, share plants,
plant a tree, fish and hunt responsibly, garden
and move slowly.
FOUR. ENDLESSLY LEARN
NINE. ENGAGE YOUR COMMUNITY
Read, socialize with children and elders,
contemplate,
teach
something,
preserve
traditional culture, play, renounce dogmatism
and make space for practice.
Go to public meetings, speak your minds, vote,
change your zoning, practice gratitude, pitch in,
use your public spaces, find common ground and
listen as well as you speak.
FIVE. EAT AS AN AGRICULTURE ACT
TEN. BUILD SELF RELIANCE
Join a CSA (community supported agriculture), Eat
food. Not too much. Mostly plants*. Learn about
how and where your food is grown, prepare your
own food and take pleasure in eating.
Produce and preserve food, brew your own, learn
tools, love the handcrafted, old and durable,
turn off your tv, simplify, nurture your health
and practice compassion.
* borrowed from Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food
LEARN MORE AT WWW.ARTM EETSEARTH.ORG OR CALL 231.626.5252