This spring the Garden Museum is exploring the world of the earthworm as part of The Wild Escape, a major new Art Fund project uniting hundreds of museums, schools and families in a celebration of UK wildlife and creativity.
Here at the Garden Museum we have been working with families and local schools to create a collaborative two-dimensional artwork. This will be on display on our Community Wall. Pupils have been making portable wormeries and studied earthworms under the microscope.
Join us this Earth Day for a celebration of the wildlife that we can find in the garden and… under the ground!
Earthworms under the microscope!
10am – 12pm | Clore Learning Space
Did you know that in the UK we have 31 species of earthworms? Earth Day 2023 at the Garden Museum offers the chance to see a creature that inhabits the soil and which has been called an ‘ecosystem engineer’. The very humble and underrated Earthworm! They are important to the soil structure and fertility as they break down dead organic matter which releases nutrients into the soil which are taken up by plants.
Come along and have a close look at earthworms using our digital microscopes and see if you can identify a species.
Clay Wildlife
11am – 1pm, 1.30pm – 3.30pm | Clore Learning Space
Here in London much of the soil in gardens is clay. Join in with making a collaborative three-dimensional garden using clay to depict some of the wildlife and plants that can be found in gardens and under the soil. Ceramics artist Monica Tong will be on hand to help. You can find out more about her work here.
The Wild Escape is made possible with support from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants, with additional support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Kusuma Trust, Foyle Foundation and a group of generous individuals and trusts.