Turning to the Plants: A Guided Plant Walk through Olana with Antonia Pérez of Herban Cura

Event recorded: September 15| 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

During this workshop guided by herbalist, educator and founder of Herban Cura, Antonia Estela Pérez, participants will learn about several medicinal and food plants growing in Olana and how we can build mutually regenerative relationships. During this walk through Olana’s artist-designed landscape, Antonia will discuss basic frameworks for how to begin building relationships with the plants. Participants will turn to the plants to learn some of the stories of the land, how they got there, and the messages the plants have to share with us all about the history of settler colonialism and displacement. Free refreshments will be served following the program.

Antonia Estela Pérez is a Chilean-American clinical herbalist, gardener, educator, community organizer, and founder. Born and raised in New York City, in a first-generation household that nurtured the values and principles of nature appreciation, land stewardship, interdisciplinary education, and social justice. Antonia combines a decade of experience studying and working with plant medicine, with her studies in environmental and urban studies at Bard College, Clinical Herbalism at Arborvitae School of Traditional Herbal Medicine, and learning with herbalists and elders throughout Central and South America. Antonia co-founded Herban Cura, an herbal medicine and education project that centers the knowledge and stories of Indigenous, Black, Queer and Trans communities.