Eco Art

Eco-Art is the use of natural and recycled materials to create, enhance, and interact with the environment. Participants are introduced to eco-art as a means for self-expression, beautification, and personal engagement and connection with the natural world. This is achieved by combining an array of artistic mediums such as visual arts, film, literature, music and sound, drama, and photography, with the therapeutic and social perspective that we are all creative beings, capable of impacting our environment.

Art Grows in Newark is facilitated by artist and art therapist Roxana Marroquin, MS, LCAT-LP. Roxana Marroquin has extensive experience as a teaching artist, art therapist, facilitator, and community gardener. Marroquin’s experiences include: Art Instructor at the YWCA of Eastern Union County Family Domestic Violence shelter in Elizabeth, NJ; darkroom photography instructor at International Center of Photography at The Point in the South Bronx, NY; expressive arts facilitator at YMCA of Newark and Vicinity; and art therapy facilitator at The Children’s Museum of Art’s community programs in New York City. As a bilingual art therapist, Marroquin has held positions at the Coalition of Hispanic Family Services and Good Shepherd Services in Brooklyn, where she provided art therapy to families in Preventive and Foster Care systems in order to prevent family separation and facilitate reunification. Currently, Marroquin is a fee-for-service bilingual art therapist at Union Settlement in Harlem. Marroquin has exhibited photography and sculpture widely in New York, New Jersey and California, as well as curated various community exhibits and cultural events. In addition, Marroquin has been a collaborator of Newark Science and Sustainability, Inc. and facilitator of its Eco-Art program since 2014. She has facilitated various community workshops with Newark SAS that include building bird houses out of recycled bottles, dolls made from corn husks, cardboard tree sculptures, and weaving with natural materials.

Marroquin has a Master’s of Science degree in Art Therapy Counseling from the College of New Rochelle and brings a perspective of community healing into her workshops and programming. Marroquin is an avid gardener and has participated in growing food and creating cultural community events in various community gardens since 2012. In 2013, Marroquin co-created and facilitated the Growing Good Vibes Articultural Systems in the Living Village Community Garden in Jersey City, NJ that incorporated visual, performance and musical arts within the garden. Marroquin continuously seeks to grow and expand her practice and is currently studying herbalism as an apprentice of Spiritual Herbalist Karen M. Rose.

Maggie Brown is an arts educator and New Jersey based artist who exhibit in museums, educational institutions and art spaces statewide. New Jersey has consistently awarded her work, including honors from the 30th Annual Festival of Art and Essex County's Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs. Her sculpture assemblages and masks incorporate cardboard, wood, fiber, Styrofoam, recycled/discarded goods and other materials. As a photographer, she has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Europe, and South America. "Ultimately, my goal in the community is to change the environment by helping to develop and create intellectual and environmental citizenship of our children. The recycled materials that I use literally change the environment and hopefully my art changes people's perception of what constitutes art."

Maggie Brown has taught various eco-art workshops and has actively exhibited and presented her work in collaboration with Newark SAS.