Watershed Art Project - Drop-In Cyanotype Session

Drop in anytime between 11:30am and 2:30pm on October 3 to contribute to Watershed,, a large-scale community artwork conceived by Pasadena-based artist Kate Lain, who was awarded an Individual Artist Grant through the City of Pasadena Arts and Culture Commission in Summer 2026. At this drop-in art-making session, you’ll use the analog cyanotype process to create designs and images on pieces of fabric that will later be sewn together into the large final community artwork - a 50-foot textile stream that will be installed in Arlington Garden in Spring 2027. The project's title, Watershed, is in homage to Eaton Canyon. It references both an area of land that channels water to a common outlet and also refers to a turning point, a significant moment or dividing point.

Participants are encouraged to bring along a small meaningful object to create an imprint to leave behind using the cyanotype process. Community members impacted by the Eaton Fire are especially invited to participate. Objects you may use to create a cyanotype might include something that has brought you comfort since the fire or something that survived the fire. Or it might be something else. It’s entirely up to you. (Note that you won’t be leaving your object behind, you’ll be taking it home with you once you use it to make your cyanotype!)

• RSVP on Eventbrite

No experience necessary. All ages welcome. Registration is encouraged to have ample supplies.

This is the part of a series of free outdoor art-making events with artist Kate Lain in Fall 2026 and Winter 2027 which will contribute to the collaborative creation of Watershed, a post-wildfire community art project grounded in the idea that creating art in community with one another and with the environment can be healing.

Stay tuned for additional Watershed workshops. There will be announcements on Watershed’s Instagram and Facebook, and via Arlington Garden. Fall activities will focus on cyanotype-making, and winter workshops will focus on assembling, embellishing, and hand-sewing the individual fabric components to create the stream.

Watershed is hosted by Arlington Garden and made possible in part by the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division.