Marlaine Cox and Karen Kasel of low tech/high joy, the rabble-rousers behind the Sunflower Revolution. Photo courtesy of the artists

Sculptor/metal-worker Marlaine Cox and painter Karen Kasel, the duo behind the collaborative art-making outfit low tech/high joy, are dear friends of mine. I’ve known both artists for years and am decidedly partial. But here’s the thing: meet them, spend a bit of time in their company, and I bet you’ll be partial, too.

These two are inveterate rabble-rousers, the sort who, rather than simply scheduling informational interviews, pass out Pie Coupons, delivering homemade pies (your choice of fruit filling) in exchange for a few minutes of “non-committal exploratory conversation” about some grassroots project they have in mind. You know the kind of community-building via artful domesticity Fritz Haeg made a fetish of at the Walker last year? These two do it as a matter of course on a daily basis – with little money, even less fanfare and way more heart.

Sewing the seed packets. Photo courtesy of low tech/high joy

At the Art Shanty Projects a few years back, they teamed up to create the very charming Shanty of Misfit Toys. In recent years, they’ve taken to fomenting the annual Sunflower Revolution, a seed-sharing project now in its fourth iteration. The whole project is designed, made and shared in partnership with residents in various Twin Cities neighborhoods. (You may have had a run-in with the revolution last year in Minneapolis’ Fulton neighborhood, as the low tech/high joy team was TuckUnder Project’s 2013 summer artist-in-residence.)

I ask them, why sunflowers? Kasel explains that the project began informally, the year she planted some giant Russian Mammoth sunflower seeds in her boulevard:

They grow to about 12 feet high – so big, they look surreal. Neighbors who had never spoken to us before were drawn over by the flowers, and we started chatting with people and getting to know them a little. I figured we’d harvest the heads of the flowers and give away seeds so others could plant them, too. We harvested, sewed and decorated little seed packets and handed them out. 

She goes on: “Harvesting sunflowers seeds is much easier than, say, [getting seeds from] the morning glory. Planting them is easy, too, and the reward is great.” They’re encouraging people to “to plant sunflowers as bright harmless graffiti in the urban environment.” Kasel says, “We want people to plant in rundown places, empty pots, ditches, and the like – that’s the sort of ‘graffiti’ we’re talking about,” nothing illegal (most likely) and anything but destructive.

The finished packet design by Seabury resident, artist Jim Daly. Photo courtesy of low tech/high joy

This year, the two artists moved their cheery revolution to St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood, establishing the 2014 Seed Hub (a handmade box filled with seed packets free for the taking) at the entrance of a low-income senior housing facility, Seabury Episcopal Home on University Avenue. Thanks to funding support from Irrigate Arts, the team has collaborated with Seabury’s staff and residents on every aspect of production, from seed selection and packet design to printing, sewing together and filling the sleeves.

Now, it’s time to distribute and plant the seeds – 450 packets in all. The Seed Hub will remain available to the public until the end of May (“it’s prime planting time for sunflowers,” Cox says) or until the packets run out, whichever comes first.

This year’s Seed Hub – modeled after the Little Free Libraries springing up around town. Photo courtesy of the artists

This Friday, over the lunch hour (noon to 1:30 p.m.), artists and community members will celebrate the sowing of another year’s organic uprising with a public gathering at Seabury. There will be refreshments, a slideshow overview of the seed packet project and various residents’ artworks on display. Irv Williams, a Seabury resident and noted jazz saxophonist, will perform with his band in the home’s common area.

In addition, low tech/high joy will be on hand this weekend at ArtStart’s EcoArts Fest, working with visitors to sew, fill, stamp and seal seed packets to take home with them.  According to the press release: “Other activities include story time, with the artists reading books such as ‘Miss Rumphius,’ a story about a woman who scatters lupine seeds everywhere, making the world a more beautiful place.  During the day, Chicks on Sticks will be stilting and directing people to locations where they can plant sunflower seeds on Harriet Island, along the Mississippi River, a major fly-way for migrating insects and birds.”

Beyond that, Cox says, you can check in with them again this fall:

We’re currently working with Silverwood Park to plant a sunflower test plot in their Dyer’s Garden (next week!). We’ll be monitoring the flowers during the growing season and, hopefully, in the process showing an example of just how beautiful a Sunflower Revolution can be. In September, for the park’s Field Trip event, we’ll have a Harvest Day where we gather the sunflower seeds from our crop and hand them out to visitors to save for next year’s growing season. 

The Sunflower Revolution Party will be Friday, May 16, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Seabury Episcopal Home, 1830 University Avenue West, St. Paul.ArtStart’sEcoArts Fest will be on St. Paul’s Harriet Island, Saturday, May 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information about the collaborative community placemaking of low tech/high joy, visit their website.