Community Days @ Marty Bender Nature Area

Please RSVP using the link provided by Wednesday, March 25th. This helps us plan for food and enables us to communicate with you on the day before the event with additional details and instructions.

Join us at Marty Bender Nature Area in Salina, Kansas, for our first event of the new Community Days series! This series focuses on experiential learning, community building, land stewardship, and creative placemaking. Community Days offer ways to build a more sustainable future through hands-on engagement near our campus headquarters. This series is also designed for those interested in the intersections of agriculture, ecology, and art.

This first event takes place on March 28th, 2026 from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Our event venue will be the Marty Bender Nature Area at 3028 S Holmes Rd, Salina, KS 67401. Special guests Kristofer Parker (Prairie Works Design) and Cedar Van Tassel (land stewardship contractor for The Land Institute) will join us. Together, they will discuss the importance of invasive species removal in land restoration work and demonstrate how to use invasive species as materials in eco-art projects that restore the prairie.

The schedule for this event includes:
10:00 am – 11:00 am: Educational programming on invasive species removal & eco-art
11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Free light lunch and time for community building
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Split into teams for removal of invasive Amur Honeysuckle on the property

We welcome guests of all ages and abilities. Seating will be provided for the presentation and meal, and restrooms will be available throughout the day.