Artist Sara Baker Michalak (center) leads participants in making seed ball turtles at the conservation workshop held recently at the Mental Health Association. The event was co-sponsored by the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.

The Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County is partnering with the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute to restore the native wildflowers along the Chadakoin River and explore the role of art and artists in protecting freshwater ecosystems.

In late June the MHA held a conservation workshop beside the Chadakoin River behind their facility in the Gateway Center at 31 Water Street. Artist Sara Baker Michalak talked about the longtime abuse the Chadakoin received that is now taking years to clean up.

Michalak described the spiny softshell turtles that live in the river; in danger of disappearing, they were once thought to be gone from western New York. She also showed participants how to make seed balls from clay powder, organic soil and native plant seeds. Each person received their own ball and shaped it into a turtle.

The seed ball turtles will be featured in the Peterson Institute’s “Art that Matters to the Planet 2024: Clarity” exhibit opening August 2 and on view through October 27. The exhibit explores the role of art and artists in protecting freshwater ecosystems across the country – including lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, and freshwater wetlands – and all the life they support, including fish, reptiles and amphibians, birds and mammals.

After their showing in the exhibit, the seed turtles will be released along the Chadakoin River shoreline to support the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s river restoration efforts. Some of the many varieties of seeds to take root are common milkweed, butterfly weed, river oats, blue vervain, blue flag iris, purple coneflower and Joe pye weed.

For details about the “Art that Matters” exhibit, visit RTPI.org/Exhibitions.

For more information about the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s work to preserve and enhance the quality, scenic beauty, and ecological health of lands and waters of the Chautauqua region, go to ChautauquaWatershed.org.

The Mental Health Association is a peer recovery center offering support groups and individual coaching for people looking to improve their lives, deepen wellness, thrive in recovery, or support those on a recovery path. Learn more by calling (716) 661-9044 or visiting MHAChautauqua.org or Facebook.com/MHAChautauqua.