Social Practice Artist and MFA student Shawn Shafner invites you to enjoy a world of earthly, acorn delights, and a series of events to crack open this undervalued resource.

Come grind acorns into flour, distill natural acorn dyes, and stick your hand in a giant bin of acorns. Acornucopia! offers a sensory wonderland of acorn experiences, interactive instructions for turning this ubiquitous nut into nutritious food, and invites audiences to aid in reforestation efforts by donating native acorns to Tomorrow's Trees, an initiative of Potomac Conservancy. Come visit from 10am - 1pm at Smith Gallery 102, Nov 14 - Nov 19 and Nov 27 - Dec 1 (map here). Additional viewing hours available by request.

Nuts for acorns? Acornucopia! features multiple opportunities to get involved:

• Collect acorns to donate! Find detailed instructions here, including a map of all the oak trees on campus. Drop your acorns off at the bin generously hosted by the GW GroW Community Garden on H Street between 23rd and 24th Streets (map here). Available anytime through Nov 12.
• Mon, Oct 30 from 5-7pm, join The Great Acorn Hunt in University Yard. Come starting at 5pm for a glass of apple cider, a bag, and instructions for where on campus to forage and what to look for in a good nut. Come back whenever you're done or by 6:45pm latest so we can weigh our results and see how many pounds of acorns we saved from gutters and landfills. The event ends at 7pm. RSVP here.
• Sat, Nov 18 from 10am-12pm, participate in a Plant and Mushroom Walk around the GW campus with avid forest gardener, forager & educator Bodhi Vasilopolous. The walk will depart from Smith 102 (map here). More information via the Facebook event here. No RSVP necessary.
• Wed, Nov 29 from 5:30-7:30pm, attend Acorns: Forest to Food for an acorn processing demonstration, a tasting of acorn pancakes, jelly and coffee, and a panel conversation about the cultural, culinary and ecological value of oak trees and their seeds. Event capped at 40 people; RSVP and more information here. The program was made possible thanks to generous support from the Global Food Institute, founded by the George Washington University and José Andrés with a mission to transform people’s lives and the health of our planet by changing the way we view food’s integral role in creating a greater world. Featuring:
  • Alexis Dickerson, with Potomac Conservancy’s Tomorrow's Trees program
  • Zí Proctor, a Piscataway farmer and stewardship coordinator for the Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park
  • Bodhi Vasilopolous, avid forest gardener, forager & educator
  • Chefs Caleb Jang and Roren Choi, the husband and wife team behind the Korean-American culinary concept Magpie and the Tiger.
• Acorns: Forest to Food is graciously hosted by the GW Culinary Medicine Program at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The event will be held at the beautiful Seva Teaching Kitchen (1810 K Street NW).