Tiny Great Outdoors Festival poster designed by Kari Percival.
Tiny Great Outdoors Festival poster designed by Kari Percival.

The Tiny Great Outdoors Festival was a free Arbor Day and SustainaVille event held at the Somerville’s tiniest “urban wild,” Quincy Street Open Space, 16 Quincy St., from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, April 23, 2017. Scientists led tiny hikes in the park, exploring wildlife in the region and explaining how global warming is changing the environment, even in our backyards. Hundreds of visitors helped plant a tree, took home free seedlings, and participated in activities, games, and art.

The festival was organized by The Somerville Arts Council and the Somerville Office of Sustainability and Environment with Greg Cook, who dreamed up the event to celebrate “urban wilds,” a term for what are often small pockets of nature within our cities. The Quincy Street Open Space is one of these urban nature parks. Located on the site of a burned-down house, it’s been reclaimed as a tiny sustainable woodland landscape created in a dense, residential urban neighborhood.

(Photos copyright 2017 Greg Cook.)

Bryan Hamlin, former chairman of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells and past president of the New England Botanical Club, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Bryan Hamlin, former chairman of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells and past president of the New England Botanical Club, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Vanessa Boukili, an urban forestry and landscape planner and conservation agent for the City of Somerville, leads the group in planting a tree in the park. (Greg Cook)
Vanessa Boukili, an urban forestry and landscape planner and conservation agent for the City of Somerville, leads the group in planting a tree in the park. (Greg Cook)
Jef Taylor, of Boston’s Urban Nature Walks group, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Jef Taylor, of Boston’s Urban Nature Walks group, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Sasha Vivelo, a Ph.D. student in Boston University’s Department of Biology researching how the growth of mushrooms and other fungi affect ecosystems and climate, speaks. (Greg Cook)
Sasha Vivelo, a Ph.D. student in Boston University’s Department of Biology researching how the growth of mushrooms and other fungi affect ecosystems and climate, speaks. (Greg Cook)
Children paint animals with Somerville artist Johanna Finnegan-Topitzer. (Greg Cook)
Children paint animals with Somerville artist Johanna Finnegan-Topitzer. (Greg Cook)
Jess Bloomer from Groundwork Somerville demonstrated worm-bin composting. (Greg Cook)
Jess Bloomer from Groundwork Somerville demonstrated worm-bin composting. (Greg Cook)
"I am sustainable when..." (Greg Cook)
“I am sustainable when…” (Greg Cook)
Alderman Maryann Heuston (at right in red) speaks about how the Quincy Street Open Space was developed. Listening are (from left) Alderman Mary Jo Rossetti, Somerville Arts Council Executive Director Greg Jenkins, Alderman Bob McWatters, Somerville Parks Director Arn Franzen, Bryan Hamlin, Sasha Vivelo, and Somerville Arts Council Special Events Manager Nina Eichner. (Greg Cook)
Alderman Maryann Heuston (at right in red) speaks about how the Quincy Street Open Space was developed. Listening are (from left) Alderman Mary Jo Rossetti, Somerville Arts Council Executive Director Greg Jenkins, Alderman Bob McWatters, Somerville Parks Director Arn Franzen, Bryan Hamlin, Sasha Vivelo, and Somerville Arts Council Special Events Manager Nina Eichner. (Greg Cook)
Somerville artist Johanna Finnegan-Topitzer (right) helps visitors paint animals. (Greg Cook)
Somerville artist Johanna Finnegan-Topitzer (right) helps visitors paint animals. (Greg Cook)
Planting a tree. (Greg Cook)
Planting a tree. (Greg Cook)
Hannah Payne (right) from the city’s SustainaVille program offers information on how we can reduce our carbon output and live more sustainably. (Greg Cook)
Hannah Payne (right) from the city’s SustainaVille program offers information on how we can reduce our carbon output and live more sustainably. (Greg Cook)
Rachel Taylor, the City of Somerville’s Animal Control Officer and Inspector, talks about the wild critters she meets in the city. (Greg Cook)
Rachel Taylor, the City of Somerville’s Animal Control Officer and Inspector, talks about the wild critters she meets in the city. (Greg Cook)
Somerville artist Rachel Mello hangs her butterflies and other insects made from recycled advertising banners to address reuse and recycling. (Greg Cook)
Somerville artist Rachel Mello hangs her butterflies and other insects made from recycled advertising banners to address reuse and recycling. (Greg Cook)
Sasha Vivelo, a Ph.D. student in Boston University’s Department of Biology researching how the growth of mushrooms and other fungi affect ecosystems and climate, speaks. (Greg Cook)
Sasha Vivelo, a Ph.D. student in Boston University’s Department of Biology researching how the growth of mushrooms and other fungi affect ecosystems and climate, speaks. (Greg Cook)
Vanessa Boukili, an urban forestry and landscape planner and conservation agent for the City of Somerville, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Vanessa Boukili, an urban forestry and landscape planner and conservation agent for the City of Somerville, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Jef Taylor, of Boston’s Urban Nature Walks group, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Jef Taylor, of Boston’s Urban Nature Walks group, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Bryan Hamlin, former chairman of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells and past president of the New England Botanical Club, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Bryan Hamlin, former chairman of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells and past president of the New England Botanical Club, leads a tour. (Greg Cook)
Christine Andrews (left) and Hannah Payne from the city’s SustainaVille program explain how we can reduce our carbon output and live more sustainably. (Greg Cook)
Christine Andrews (left) and Hannah Payne from the city’s SustainaVille program explain how we can reduce our carbon output and live more sustainably. (Greg Cook)
Planting a tree. (Greg Cook)
Planting a tree. (Greg Cook)
Bryan Hamlin, former chairman of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells and past president of the New England Botanical Club, has helped lead a census of all the plants in the Fells. (Greg Cook)
Bryan Hamlin, former chairman of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells and past president of the New England Botanical Club, has helped lead a census of all the plants in the Fells. (Greg Cook)
Oliver Sellers-Garcia, Somerville's Director of Sustainability and Environment, explains how we can reduce our carbon output and live more sustainably. (Greg Cook)
Oliver Sellers-Garcia, Somerville’s Director of Sustainability and Environment, explains how we can reduce our carbon output and live more sustainably. (Greg Cook)