Dave Odd is a full time professional forager in Chicagoland. Through his Eat the Neighborhood Foraging Tours and Events he has taught thousands of people about the edible and medicinal wild plants and mushrooms that grow right in their own backyards. On any given tour he guarantees he will show you at least 50 edible or medicinal plants and mushrooms. He has been featured on The Discovery Channel, TED Talks, PBS, WTTW, WBEZ, WGN, Fox 32, The Chicago Sun Times, The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, The Washington Post and more.

Find him at: 

Eattheneighborhood.com

Eattheneighborhood on IG and TikTok.

FB https://www.facebook.com/groups/OddProduceForaging

Bird Collisions in the Anthropocene is a large-scale civic engagement art project comprising over 10,000 bird replicas made by the citizens of Chicago and beyond. Join us at this free public workshop where you will create a replica of a specific bird that died in 2023 from a window collision in Chicago. The finished artwork will be a “red carpet” of birds measuring the length of a football field and exhibited throughout the city to raise awareness about bird safe windows and celebrate the over 300 species of birds that fly through our city.

Website 

Instagram 

Zines and Foias with the FOIA Bakery Project - More information forthcoming!

The Chicago Region Tree Initiative (CRTI) at the Morton Arboretum is hosting a summer tree walk series. Please join us August 6th 5 -7 pm at the Wild Mile to learn more about how trees and rivers intersect, tree identification, and how we all can be good stewards of the Chicago Area! For this walk please rsvp using the button below, and register on here as well: https://mortonarb.tfaforms.net/48?id=a5gVy0000018TqfIAE 

Find them at: @MortonArb

Bring your curiosity and build connections with nature to this workshop hosted by members of Chicago Nature Journaling Club! We'll be reflecting on the Chicago River as well as its planted neighbors on Wild Mile. You can expect an informal nature journaling session where facilitators will provide a few different prompts to get started. Participants will be welcome to write, draw, etc. throughout and to share their pages at the end of the evening. All levels of experience with art and naturalist practice are welcome. Basic journaling materials will be available, but feel free to bring paper or a notebook of your choice and materials like pens, pencils, colored pencils, markers or watercolors as well. 

Instagram 

Ty Yamamoto is a Chicago-based photographer and Japanese teacher with a passion for the art of folding paper. Ever since childhood, Ty has loved folding all sorts of intricate paper creations. Over the past five years, Ty has brought origami to libraries, offices, schools and more, bringing the traditional Japanese art form to households all over the world.

Find them at: Ty Yamamoto (@ty_yamamoto1) • Instagram photos and videos

Join Fannie Medina of Creative Vida for a vibrant and immersive evening of education and artistic exploration on the world’s first floating eco-park! Participants will learn about the Wild Mile’s “living laboratories” and the plants that help to create its healthy ecosystem. Using these plants, we will experiment with the playful organic art of gelli prints using grasses, leaves, blossoms, and other items collected along the Wild Mile. You will create your very own beautiful, one-of-a-kind botanical prints!

Fannie is the founder of Creative Vida, a mobile creative experience that brings art, connection, and inspiration to schools, businesses, and communities. With over 25 years in art education, she combines her expertise in arts integration with her passion for creativity to design paint parties, team-building sessions, and wellness workshops that foster joy, mindfulness, and collaboration.

Find them at:

Fannie Medina (@creativevida_chi) • Instagram photos and videos 

Creative Vida (@Creativevidachi) • Facebook 

Las Nenas

Las Nenas is a Latina led salsa experience created by Itzel Rivera-Fernandez and Sofia Santana, built on the belief that dance is one of the best ways to bring people together. Through beginner friendly workshops and social dance events, we create welcoming spaces where people can move, laugh, make new friends, and connect with their community.

Whether you come with a partner, a group of friends, or on your own, you'll find a supportive environment where everyone is invited to learn, dance, and have fun. Our mission is to build community, and remind people that joy belongs on the dance floor.

Good music. Good people. Good vibes.

Find us:
Instagram: @las_nenas_chi

Join beekeeper Naaman Gambill of the Hive Supply Co. as he takes you on a Wild Mile pollinator walk and demonstration, which includes an observation hive, local honey sampling, and interactive educational activities.

Find them at:

thehivesupply.com

Facebook

Instagram

LinkTree

Trash People is a local grassroots non-profit focused on bringing neighbors together to make a positive impact in Chicago. Our organization is made up of three projects - The Parlor, a resource redistribution micro-hub in Logan Square that aims to increase access to essential resources across the city while also reducing waste; Clean-Ups with the Trash People, designed to strengthen communities while caring for our planet; and The Volunteer Fair. Join them in using repurposed materials to make enrichment items for pets. 

Our clean-ups are in 9 neighborhoods (Logan Square, Humboldt Park, West Town, McKinley Park, Lakeview, Ravenswood, Uptown, Pilsen, Hyde Park), the Parlor is in the heart of Logan Square (the address is shared if someone signs up to volunteer/drop items off so that we can avoid donation dumping), and The Volunteer Fair moves from neighborhood to neighborhood - our next event will be October 18 at Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Wicker Park. 

Find them at: 

Instagram: @trashpeopleofchicago, 2theparlorchicago, @thevolunteerfair

Eventbrite

trashpeople.org

volunteerfair.org 

Hi, I'm Shane Alden, I'm a self-taught illustrator, botanist, and educator who has been featured on the Chicago Tribune, the Wild Edible World Podcast, and more. I've been teaching communities about botany for 5 years now and I've recently collaborated with the Conservation Foundation and the The Chicago Field Museum of Natural History as an instructor teaching about edible wild plants. Join me to learn how to make wine from dandelions!

Find Shane at: 

The Wild Dryad 

The Wild Dryad - YouTube 

u/thewilddryad 

Shane Alden Edwards (@shanealden.edwards.7) • Facebook 

TikTok 

Hi! My name is Ericka Jo. I'm a Kemetic Yoga Instructor, Holistic Nutritionist and Beauty Wellness Practitioner. I use my talents to help other people SHINE! Join me as I lead a Kemetic Yoga Session and teach you about Holistic Nutrition utilizing simple salad ingredients. 

You can find me here! https://stan.store/Ejoshine

IG: @e.joshine
FB: Shine Ericka
TikTok: @ejoshine
YouTube: ejoshine

Join Joee Cortina of Shedd Aquarium to learn about Jewelweed, a native flowering plant that grows abundantly along urban waterways! You’ll learn about the medicinal value of Jewelweed, and make a topical salve that’s great for treating rashes and poison ivy!

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to identify and harvest ~20 wild edible plants of mid summer in Chicago. Participants will also learn about safe and responsible foraging practices, and about the role of foraging in its cultural and ecological context. This workshop happens on-the-move, so come ready to do some walking.

Axel Peterman has been a forager since birth. Growing up in Woodlawn and Hyde Park, he worried many a middle school teacher and camp counselor by eating things that he'd found on the lawn, and by teaching his friends about them. After 11 years of teaching in the northern town of Ashland, WI, during which time he led over a hundred foraging walks as well as workshops on a variety of other subjects, he's back in Chicago, and thrilled to explore the wild edibles of his hometown --- and to teach folks about them.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED! STAY TUNED FOR THE NEW DATE!

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to identify and harvest ~20 wild edible plants of mid summer in Chicago. Participants will also learn about safe and responsible foraging practices, and about the role of foraging in its cultural and ecological context. This workshop happens on-the-move, so come ready to do some walking.

Axel Peterman has been a forager since birth. Growing up in Woodlawn and Hyde Park, he worried many a middle school teacher and camp counselor by eating things that he'd found on the lawn, and by teaching his friends about them. After 11 years of teaching in the northern town of Ashland, WI, during which time he led over a hundred foraging walks as well as workshops on a variety of other subjects, he's back in Chicago, and thrilled to explore the wild edibles of his hometown --- and to teach folks about them.

Ready to learn more about the plants of Illinois’ waterways? Join forager and mentor Dave Odd for an in-depth tour of the plant species that inhabit your favorite floating eco-park. Dave was a professional forager for high-end restaurants and celebrity chefs for over a decade, throughout Chicagoland and south Florida. He now dedicates his time to teaching the identification and use of edible and medicinal species through neighborhood foraging tours, guided hikes, and survival camps. Dave will lead an interactive walk-through of the Wild Mile and its plants, exploring their numerous applications!

Ready to learn more about the plants of Illinois’ waterways? Join forager and mentor of Dave Odd for an in-depth tour of the plant species that inhabit your favorite floating eco-park. Dave was a professional forager for high-end restaurants and celebrity chefs for over a decade, throughout Chicagoland and south Florida. He now dedicates his time to teaching the identification and use of edible and medicinal species through neighborhood foraging tours, guided hikes, and survival camps. Dave will lead an interactive walk-through of the Wild Mile and its plants, exploring their numerous applications!

114 species of bird have been spotted at the Wild Mile. But how can we tell them apart? Chicago Ornithological Society president Edward Warden for a workshop on the river and learn how to find and identify birds Chicago’s many feathered friends. Edward will walk participants through the basics of bird identification, along with what a hopeful birder needs to get started looking for birds, and take participants in search of any currently nesting in or around the Chicago River. Some binoculars will be provided, but bring your own if you have them!

What is citizen science and community science? How can you use both art and science to get more involved in research on the Chicago River? Join SAIC Environmental Science professor Sarah Zhou Rosengard for a community science workshop on the Wild Mile! In this event, you will:

• Learn about local community science initiatives

• Make and test out your own river plastics collector

• Bring home a number of other arts-based DIY community science tools and devices to help you bring river science into your everyday life

Join SAIC Environmental Science professor Sarah Zhou Rosengard for a community science workshop on the Wild Mile! Learn about local community science initiatives, and artistic, DIY options for getting involved!

Join Molly Biagi and Allison Kish to learn about plastic pollution! Only about 5% of plastic in the US is able to be recycled and when it's found in small bits on the ground or in the water there is a slim chance it will be reused in any way. Not all plastic is able to be recycled together, and when it's found in degraded states, it's hard to tell what is what. This might sound sad but we have the chance to give these plastic fragments a new life in the form of art! Join us in making colorful mosaic pieces while also learning a little bit about micro and macro plastics and how they affect our local ecosystems and environment. 

Molly and Allison are both graduate students in Miami University’s Project Dragonfly program studying wildlife conservation, with knowledge ranging from endangered species monitoring, to microplastic surveying, to how we can create ecological change in our own communities. 

Sun-Times outdoors columnist Dale Bowman and veteran Chicago River fishing enthusiast Jeff Nolan will present on the history of fishing in Chicagoland, modern fishing hotspots, and basic fishing techniques!