Full Circle Meal 2019: What Was Waiting for Us in the Water (Part IV)
As the guests at 2019’s Full Circle Meal mixed and mingled, sipping cocktails and creating their own unique versions of the Great Seed Bomb, another evocation of the “ripple” concept came into play: music.
A perfect example of an act of willing and intentional creativity that ultimately goes on to take on a life of its own, becoming coming unique and personal to just about anybody who comes into contact with it, music was an ingredient that was not about to be left out of the sensory celebration that is the yearly Full Circle Meal. For 2019’s meal, Alisa invited Liz Fullerton, lead singer of the musical collective Honey Watts, to perform. Her lilting tunes provided the perfect ambiance for an opening hour of ice-breaking and cocktail-sipping. As her delicate vocals drifted over Promise Ridge, guests eventually made their way over to the Infinity Deck, looking out over a sweeping view of the Appalachian Trail.
One of the things that truly stands out about the annual Full Circle Meal is the way you can practically see the strata of what once was, embedded deep in the event’s very DNA. As Alisa spoke about the central theme of those ripples we put into the world, she considered the ripples that had been inspiring her as she conceived this event’s theme and message. As a result, her design was to create something that would vibrate with the acknowledgement of those who had been there before, recognizing that this year’s even certainly wouldn’t be what it is, were it not for all the events and people that had come together to contribute to this unique iteration.
And then, it was time — time to make our way down for the main event itself, and time to finally see what everyone had put so much thought and time and energy into assembling. We all made our way creekside, entering the water via a custom set of stairs created by — who else? — Master Builder Will Croasdale, at which point we were all finally able to truly take in what lay before us.
Even if this was your first time at a Full Circle Meal, it was immediately apparent: everyone had outdone themselves this year, and they had all done it together. The collaborative spirit was visible and present throughout every aspect of the environment, each piece contributing to the next one, and perfectly.
Sarah Petryk and her team at Allium Floral Designs came up with beautiful, sweeping designs for this year’s meal, including a massive floral mandala arrangement that sat square in the middle of the gigantic communal table, nourished as we all ate by water from the creek itself.
And just as it was important for Alisa and her creative collaborators to look to the past, they all agreed that it was important to look forward, too:
I’ve been working hard to eliminate floral foam from our design practice. Obviously foam would have been the easy choice to build this flat design on, but since we make a point of not harming the creek, we chose not to use the microplastic. Instead, we built a table that would hold water, hydrating the flowers directly from the creek itself.
This was so much fun to put together, balancing the design from one side to the other, working with each other to determine how best to layer in the blooms. It was truly a collaborative process. We also gave ourselves a full day to just play with the design. In a highly deadline-driven design field, having that full day to “play” felt like such a luxury.
Joining these impressive floral arrangements was the work of up-and-coming local artist Karina Puente, whose work was just recently featured as part of an exhibit called Look Up, Look In, at the Kimmel Center here in Philadelphia. Utilizing the Mexican folk art of papel picado, Karina crafted a series of flags that sat anchored within the creek, each one a tribute representing the Full Circle Meal events that had come before.
For the annual Full Circle Meal, I hand-dyed and hand-cut four five-foot-by-five-foot flags to stake claim; an homage to Indigenous women leaders. Flags are important because they symbolize presence and belonging. No one has presence like Promise Ridge and Alisa Tongg.
Alisa claims her Cherokee background and weaves her identity as a celebrant into all aspects of leadership. Her energy shouts, “Own it!” Land, stories, and the ways in which we lift each other. And I’m here for her creative movement-building.
Flags in hand.
Karina’s flags stood tall out of the water, anchored in place by concrete pyramids crafted by none other than Will Croasdale (there’s that collaborative spirit again), and complemented by the incredible seventy foot table runner that she hand-made, specially for the occasion.
It was, in a word, breathtaking. It was almost impossible not to take in the incredible design that was spread out before us, and it was inescapable, at this point, that none of it would have come together so magically had everybody not been so willing and committed to the spirit of collaboration. It was easy to remember something Alisa had mentioned in her opening remarks, and see that this event was truly something more than the simple sum of all its parts.
After a moment, though, we found our attention diverted once more — 2019’s Full Circle Meal was finally about to begin!