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the salt tree project

The Salt Tree Projectaspires to create a rich communityspace in an unprecedentedvisionary environment.On the canvas of an ediblelandscape, a multi-acre artinstallation becomes the groundsfor collaborative explorations ofecology and the arts.By uniting land, art, andcommunity, the Salt Tree Projectbecomes a center for innovationand creativity.

Ecology and the arts will be intertwined in The Salt Tree Project will build a communitythe space’s creation and operation. Artists, of engagement that:horticulturalists, and practitioners in allied fieldswill be working collectively to build and maintain fosters innovative research on food systemsan edible landscape as a multi-acre art installation and environmental management;that supports community engagement. supports broad participation in the project asThe edible landscape will produce an an inspired place to create and discover art;abundance of foods and natural resources forcommunity use. The project will use pioneering promotes education and open dialoguetechniques in the field of regenerative through ongoing workshop and conferenceagriculture, which moves beyond sustainability programming;to enhance soil and water health, improvebiodiversity, and offset global climate change hosts public festivals, performances, and otherby storing atmospheric carbon. events that showcase the project’s work.

Building a visionary environment A visionary environment extends an artistic vision beyond the scale of a typical installation, encompassing the entirety of a location and generating an immersive artistic experience. Although hundreds of visionary environments exist globally, the most impactful projects incorporate a strength of vision with community involvement. Vision: breaking new ground While synergies between the arts and ecology have strong precedents, regenerative agriculture is a relatively recent farm management approach with untapped opportunities for substantial creative exploration. An opportunity exists to draw public interest with a true visionary environment that integrates land use with artistic vision, establishing a platform for unique and regionally attractive events and programming. Placemaking: a framework for community involvement The project intends to align with the Placemaking movement. Placemaking offers a space design andSample rendering: The NestThis installation element uses living willow as a sculptural and architectural tool. A core pergola creates a space for events and public programming.Willow is well-suited for marginal farmland that is too wet to support conventional agricultural plantings. The living willow can be harvestedannually as a perennial resource. Surrounding sculptures from dried willow can trellis an assortment of vining plants, including local grapevarieties, squashes, and hardy kiwi.

The Salt Tree Project would bethe first permanent, farm-scaleart project focused on humanfood systems.management process that extends beyond functionality Related environments and programs in New York’s Hudson Valleyto directly promote human health, happiness, and well- and surrounding regions:being as primary operational goals. Sculpture parks and museums (dark green) Artist colonies and residency programs (orange)The Salt Tree Project will create “place” through Makerspaces (blue)community contribution to installation design and Yard art and roadside attractions (red)construction, ongoing adult and youth programming, andpublic access to on-site resources and facilities. in Terris (a yard art project by artist Frederick Franck that has evolved to a formal sculpture park), Opus 40 (aHudson River Valley: an artisic Stonehenge-like monumental sculpture by Harvey Fite withmarket opportunity an associated museum and additional artwork), Storm King Art Center (a massive sculpture park that has defined itsWhile the Northeast boasts a strong artistic community, landscape around monumental artworks), and Dia: Beaconvisionary environments and large-scale installations (a museum with large-scale art).are rare.In New York City, the HighLine, Socrates Sculpture Park,and Noguchi Museum bear similarities to visionaryenvironments, though their spaces hold art following amuseum or gallery model, rather than the environmentserving as the work itself.Similarly in the Hudson Valley, most visionary spacesare museums and sculpture parks. These include Pacem

Cultivating a regenerative landscape Modern agriculture approaches farming as an economic activity. Organic farming maintains this market approach while tempering ecological impacts through mandatory sustainable practices. In contrast, regenerative agriculture uses an operations model that prioritizes efforts to improve soil health and water resources, sequester atmospheric carbon, promote biodiversity, and encourage community linkages. Regenerative agriculture can also be seen as a market disruptor for decentralizing food systems, improving food security, and shrinking markets for industrial agricultural inputs. The model has demonstrated success in developing viable livestock management operations, though its application to horticulture is relatively unexplored. Northeast Bioregions: activity epicenters The regenerative agriculture movement in the northeast United States has three bioregional epicenters in the New York Finger Lakes, Vermont, and Massachusetts, but New York’s Hudson River Valley offers an untapped opportunity.Sample rendering: Mycology SculpturePaper mâché sculptures create an inoculation medium for a variety of edible mushrooms, such as lion’s mane and pink oyster. The sculpturesallow for a regularly harvestable yield of product from forested areas that lack the light requirements of most conventional food plants. Thesculptures naturally deteriorate through weather exposure and fungal decomposition, providing an instrument for ongoing artistic expressionand creating an educational opportunity to introduce and discuss the essential role of fungi in forest health.

A farm-scale regenerative agriculture project for the Hudson Valleyregion has potential to become an experimental and educational hubfor the bioregion, and the opportunities for partnerships with areainstitutions can offer access to resources and programming markets.New York Finger Lakes: Cornell’s Cooperative Extension education facility at Stone Barns Center most closely parallelsserves as an area outreach and advocacy hub for 14 the innovative techniques and experimentation intendedcommercial farms, homesteads (farms organized around with the Salt Tree Project, but Stone Barns lacks the cross-family units), community organizations, and institutional disciplinary engagement that would make the Salt Tree Projectprojects practicing regenerative agriculture techniques. unique in its mission and programming.Vermont: 12 regenerative agriculture projects are loosely Regenerative agriculture projects in the Northeastgrouped in northern Vermont and New Hampshire, with the Commercial farms (dark green)strongest concentration along the Burlington to Montpelier Non-profit organizations (orange)corridor. This region is also home to the Northeast’s largest Institutional farms (blue)and most established sustainable agriculture project at Education sites (red)Shelburne Farms.Massachusetts: The Regenerative Design Group has beeninvolved in design, implementation, or other supports for themajority of this bioregion’s 14 projects.The Hudson Valley has an underdeveloped regenerativeagriculture community relative to other bioregions. Only 3homesteads actively market regenerative agriculture practices.One of these, the Center for Bioregional Living, has developedconnections with the permaculture community in Brooklyn,but has not connected to major institutions with regenerativeagriculture interests (notably the NYC botanical gardensand the region’s colleges and universities). An agricultural

Location scoutingNew York’s Hudson River Valley offers the project Communities and Competitionconnection to New York City resources and, by extension,to the global artistic and agricultural communities. Locations All scouted properties should be assessed for proximityunder consideration do not exceed 3 hours travel time from of potential partners (area colleges, universities, andNYC via public transportation options. institutions, and other affinity organizations) to assess access to pre-launch resources through affiliation.Scouting is focused on Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland,and Ulster Counties in New York, and Litchfield County in Properties will also be assessed for proximity to similarConnecticut. New York’s Sullivan, Greene, and Columbia programming (artist residencies, permanent or seasonalCounties, as well as Berkshire County in Massachusetts are also festivals/carnivals/fairs), and farms within a 30-minuteattractive due to low land costs and tax rates, though portions driving radius researched for regenerative agricultureof these counties lack robust public transit connections. Parts of practices, product/programming portfolio, event calendar,Connecticut’s Fairfield and New Haven Counties are also being and space rentals.scouted, though land costs are relatively high.Property FeaturesTo achieve all programmatic goals and allow for the projectto scale, all properties under consideration must have atminimum a 20-acre lot with at least 5 buildable acres. Thefollowing features are also highly desirable to minimizecapital costs:• Existing infrastructure (well, septic, connection to telecomand electrical grids)• Existing buildings (residential, production, and eventspaces)• Water feature (lake, pond, or river frontage)

Workshops Food Forest Parade GroundsConceptual Rendering Parade Grounds: Open fields create a center for outdoor event programming and large art experimentation. FieldsThis sample rendering illustrates the Salt Tree Project’s also provide an opportunity for horticultural demonstrationintended scale, as well as the diversity of planned with turfgrass alternatives, native meadow development, andlandscape and built environment features. Any selected pollinator gardening/beekeeping.site’s Master Plan will include elements such as: Workshops: An art production hub includes woodworking,Food Forest: Forest gardening employs trees, shrubs, metalworking, glass, fabrics, tech, and plant labs. Theperennial herbs and vegetables, and vines to create layered workshops offer the needed resources to produce andgardens in a woodland environment. These settings are also maintain all project elements, a collaborative space toideal for edible mushroom cultivation and chickenkeeping. develop temporary or travelling artworks, and a publicThe variety of species, in addition to the unique structures makerspace and tool library managed and accessed throughand lighting within layered and canopied spaces, make this a community guild system.environment an exciting space to apply an artistic lens.

ProgrammingResidencies & Apprenticeships Youth & School PartnershipsThe Salt Tree Project intends to offer year-round Curriculum-based programs will introduce youthresidencies and apprenticeships to support to regenerative agriculture concepts, exploresite operations, and to advance its mission of ecology through art and encourage communicationpromoting creativity and innovation in agriculture between STEM disciplines (science, technology,and the arts. engineering, and math), arts, and humanities.Residencies will offer a curriculum-based program These programs will be offered through a daythat explores the relationship between arts camp for ages 8 through 12, and a sleep-awayand agriculture. Cohorts will includes artists, camp for ages 13 through 17.gardeners, and practitioners in allied disciplines Partnered schools will be offered 1-day fieldall sharing spaces, working alongside each other trip experiences and partial-day school-basedin farm assignments and artistic collaborations, workshops that introduce and advance the Saltand participating in weekly readings, lectures, Tree Project’s mission and areas of interestdiscussions, and activities that help to remove throughout the academic year.interdisciplinary boundaries and build the toolsneeded to integrate disparate approaches toimproving our world.

Community Partnerships Special EventsA Welcome Center will provide for public The Salt Tree Project will produce 4 seasonalinterface with: festivals open to the general public that will serveImmediate as an opportunity to showcase the project and the• Education: Information on the site, operations, work of our community, as well as a fundraising platform to support ongoing operations and and programming (including information on programming. offering or joining community events), with All of the project’s spaces and resources will also regular, scheduled public tours of the full site. be available for private rental when not in use for• Local/regional artist resources: A gallery for programming. local art and project resident art, curated by the community. Access to workshop, event, and performance spaces.• Local/regional gardener resources: Space for learning and experimentation, including access to propagation space, a seed bank, and a tool share.• Picnic space: Available for BYO foods in combination with café or tasting room purchases.• Events: Available space for workshops, lectures, activities, conferences, and events.At Scale• Café: Offering baked goods, tea, coffee, and beverages.• Tasting Room: Offering mead and wines produced on-site.

Organization Salt Tree TrustThe Salt Tree Project Land title/deed holder (holdsThe project’s development will land in trust in accordancebe managed through threeentities working in unison to with project mission). Propertyoffer the needed framework manager (facilities and grounds),in conducting programming, including horticulture operations.guaranteeing ongoing mission-based land management, and Space rental/scheduling.generating revenue.Salt Tree Salt Tree Arts Foundation Project management in site Community relations. development, art production, Not-for-profit programming (residencies, youth services/ and art installations. school partnerships, communityEvent planning and production. events). 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor For-profit initiatives. for eligible projects.

Co-Founders Advisory BoardMike Hollis Lauren Alzos designs and implements innovative curricula in dance and performance for the New York City Department of Education.Mike co-founded the Salt Tree Project and will serve as the Chief Horticultural She holds a B.A. in Education from New York University, and aOfficer. He currently manages a therapeutic horticulture program with 37 Masters in Social Work from Fordham University.sites in New York City, including in-ground and rooftop farms, an apiary, andpropagation and hydroponics greenhouses with a staff of 28 groundskeepers, Jordan Benke has served as the Art Production Manager for Thefarmers, instructors, and product development/sales staff. He coordinates High Line, one of New York City’s preeminent park spaces, sincethe program’s curriculum-based vocational trainings and food security 2011, working in the production, installation, and maintenance ofprogramming. hundreds of public arts projects within the park’s space. Jordan holds an A.B. in Studio Art from Dartmouth College.He oversaw growth of the program from a recreational project limited to 4Brooklyn gardens and 9 participants, to a comprehensive city-wide program Liz McCabe, Ph.D. is an educator specializing in experiential- andengaging over 500 clients annually. Since 2015, the program has been awarded service-learning pedagogy at Northwestern University. She is aover $520,000 in grants and has received $470,000 through private donations and founding co-chair of the NU Public Humanities Colloquium, whichproduct sales. promotes dialogue between students, faculty, and non-academic professionals across Chicago. From 2007-2016, she coordinatedMike received his MSc in Sustainable Development from the University of Chicago’s Poetry Out Loud programming for regional high schools.London. He is a member of the New York Horticultural Society’s Professionals She also serves on the Action Council of Literature for All of Us,Alliance, is an Organic Land Care Professional for the Northeast Organic supporting work with underserved youth in Chicago. Liz holds aFarmers Association, and is a US Green Building Council Accredited Ph.D. in English Literature from Northwestern University.Professional. Niles Norton supervises construction teams for the InternationalBrian Soliwoda Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), managing carpentry, welding, and other professional crafts for dozensBrian co-founded the Salt Tree Project and will serve as the Chief Arts of television, movie, and stage productions. Niles was also theOfficer and program curator. Since 2002, Brian has worked in arts and events founder and designer of Scare, an artistically acclaimed hauntedproduction for a range of private, corporate, and non-profit clients. His events attraction in Delaware’s Brandywine Valley.have included multinational brand awareness campaigns, national-levelfundraising operations, and nationally/internationally broadcast media events. Kristen Terrana has been a freelance graphic designer since 2004, as well as an Art Director for graphic design firm Big YellowBrian is an active visual and performing artist, with recent work with New York Taxi since 2005. Her clients include global agencies such asCity’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Muse Circus (a New York City-based UNICEF and the World Health Organization, educational companiescircus performer school), and the Blue Hill Troupe (a premier performance-based including Hooked on Phonics and the Wall Street Journal:charity group). He is the creator of Victorian Variety, an artistic incubation Classroom Edition, and a broad range of corporate and non-project that offers emerging artists a safe space to workshop new material, and profit clients, from Pokémon to the American Association for thehe has served as a teaching artist in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Advancement of Science. She holds a B.F.A. in Illustration fromJersey, and New York with students from ages 7 and up with experience in the School of Visual Arts.curriculum development and implementation for a number of artistic disciplines.Brian holds a B.A. in Theatre Production from the University of Delaware. He isa member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG/AFTRA) , Actors Equity Association(AEA), and Puppeteers of America.

Financials Year 1 Year 2 Project Trigger CASH ON-HAND: $250,000 CASH-ON-HAND: $115,000 $250,000 COSTS: $225,000 COSTS: $305,000 + - Land costs: Taxes, insurance, mortgage - Land costs: Taxes, insurance, mortgage (Tax & insurance costs for 2 years) - Capital projects ($125K) - Staffing ($50K) + - Staffing ($50K) - Programming ($115K) (Property cost) - Programming ($50K) - Capital projects ($140K) OR INCOME: $90,000 INCOME: $210,000 $350,000 - Fundraising ($50K) - Fundraising ($80K) + - Rentals ($10K) - Rentals ($10K) - Programming ($30,000) - Programming ($120K) (Tax & insurance costs for 2 years) + END-OF-YEAR BALANCE: END-OF-YEAR BALANCE: (Property mortgage down $115,000 $20,000 payment) Year 1 focus will be construction and Year 2 expands upon all event structures renovation to obtain core event hosting and horticultural/artistic elements to allow structures and horticultural elements. programming to scale. Programming will Programming will mostly revolve around continue to promote public involvement public engagement in these capital in site development, and will also projects, with an initial festival as part of a launch ongoing residency, youth/school product/service awareness campaign. partnership, and special event cycles. Cash-on-hand provides sufficient cushion End-of-year balance provides a marginal to carry operations into Year 2, even cushion for continued operations in Year 3, if rentals are not possible or if festival though income lines should be analyzed to income falls short of projection. assure projected trends are accurate and to set priorities to improve cash flow.

Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 (Scaled)CASH-ON-HAND: $20,000 CASH-ON-HAND: $175,000 CASH-ON-HAND: $35,000COSTS: $215,000 COSTS: $510,000 COSTS: $350,000 - Land costs: Taxes, insurance, and - Land costs: Taxes, insurance, and - Land costs: Taxes, insurance, and mortgage ($50K) mortgage ($50K) mortgage ($50K) - Staffing ($50K) - Project management ($50K) - Project management ($50K) - Programming ($115K) - Program staffing ($125K) - Program staffing ($200K) - General operations ($85K) - Capital projects ($50K)INCOME: $370,000 - Capital projects ($200K) INCOME: $375,000 - Fundraising ($150K) INCOME: $370,000 - Rentals ($50K) - Rentals ($50K) - Programming ($170K) - Fundraising ($175K) - Programming ($175K) - Rentals ($50K) - Fundraising ($150K)END-OF-YEAR BALANCE: - Programming ($175K)$175,000 END-OF-YEAR BALANCE: END-OF-YEAR BALANCE: $60,000Sufficient infrastructure will exist by Year $35,0003 to fully scale all initial programming. Completion of major capital projectsGroundwork will begin for tasting room/ A final capital development push will allows income to exceed costs goingcafé development as a final programming complete all infrastructure to launch forward with sufficient cushion to manageelement. all outlined programming. Full-time contingencies. permanent staffing will also begin to All outlined goals and programs will beRevenue from facility rental and service expand in support of scaled functions. enacted and full-time permanent staffingofferings will come to scale. Core activities will achieve scale.for this year will focus on finalizing thesite’s horticultural Master Plan.

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