View Score & Purchase (coming soon!)
About
A couple of years ago, I listened. I listened to a small voice that asked me to tune in more deeply to our Earth…. and slowly it came into focus. It’s called Converging Consciousness: A Plant & Human Co-Creation, a project that I’ve co-created and produced.
Premiered in the fall of 2023, this piece was created for soprano voice, storyteller, and visual art together with our plant relatives. I knew it was important for us to get to know the plant relatives on a more personal level. My collaborators, Dakota Anishinaabe author and poet,Tara Perron Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ, composer, Catherine Dalton (me!), soprano, Regina (Gigi) Stroncek, and visual artist, Dana Boyle sat with five plant relatives. Gigi and I then transcribed what we heard into improvisational musical notation. Dana created botanical paintings which served as both part of the score and gifts for our generous donors. Tara’s stories were woven into the performance and projections of the flower relatives and their home, filmed by the Fix Agency, accompanied the performance. We will be having an in-person + virtual Watch Party for the film this winter– stay tuned so you can join us.
We created something amazing in collaboration with plant relatives and their voices were sent out into the world! This work is now finding its next iteration– if you have an interest in performing or presenting Converging Consciousness: A Plant & Human Co-Creation, please reach out!
Dana’s Beautiful Botanical Paintings
You can now purchase a set of 10 Greeting Cards (2 of each flower relative) in my store!
Featured Converging Consciousness Blog Posts
Guest Post by Converging Consciousness Collaborator Dana Boyle
Quotes from Collaborators
“It has been such a pleasure to teach, learn and work together in the creation of this project. Braiding together the healing power of storytelling, art, and music to honor our plant relatives in such a beautiful way.” – Tara
“I am most excited about the relationships that we are building through this project and how much we are going to learn from each other. I value the quality time our creative team is sharing in the company of plant relatives, and I am eager to see how these relationships shape the visual art, music, and stories that center these special beings.” – Gigi
“I am gaining so much excitement from our team of brilliant women, appreciating how we collaborate to teach and learn from one another about music, visual arts and storytelling. I love that we are exploring how to openly communicate to each other and the wider world in culturally appropriate ways. Spending hours hiking out at the Wakan Tipi site with Tanagidan leading the way and sharing indigenous knowledge about the plants and their powerful medicines has been a great highlight. It is influencing how I am approaching my paintings of our chosen plants.” – Dana
Donors
Heather Barringer
Sarah Colwell
Gretchen Cudak
Laurie Gaschott
Diane Hilscher
Linda Kachelmeier
Ellen Lowery
Jane Miller
Karlyn Peterson
Bert Phillips
Erika Rae
Lisa Sem
Wendy Stanton
Michael Stroncek
White Bear Animal Hospital
If you’d like to learn about the giving levels for experiential and product perks associated with these donations, click here.
So excited to support this project!
Thank you Laura! We are excited to share this incredible journey with all of you.
Love the entire concept! Can’t wait to hear and see the results.
Thank you, Natalie! We can’t wait to share.
How very exciting! I would like to know more about this. Thank you for letting me know about this fabulous idea. I am an artist and most of my work is botanical would love to share some of them with you. Gail
Hi Gail!
I hope you’ve been well and had a chance to relax a bit over the long weekend.
Thanks again for reaching out about my project Converging Consciousness! It’s been such a fulfilling experience so far, and is evolving into something more than I had hoped. I love that we both have a passion for botanical art, and would love to see more of your paintings. I’ve loved your paintings in the past! If you ever share your art on social media, feel free to tag me and/or use my hashtag #convergingconsciousness so I can enjoy it and share it with my community! I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop as the project progresses.
Thanks again for reaching out, and please stay in touch!
Catherine
Catherine you are an inspiration to me – to the world!
It was so outstanding!! I can see it at the U of M Arboretum as a very special event!!