Learning By Hand

Communications Disaster Response: Book Reading & Workshop at Bather’s Library in Oakland, CA! Join us on Saturday, May 23 from 5 pm - 7 pm alongside @eli.utne of @learningbyhand , @nrhugs of @mauirapidresponse , @theguilloteens and @sudo.room of Lefty Radio League, for a book reading and workshop on communications disaster response, with an emphasis on radio communication 101. This is the perfect workshop for anyone who has ever wanted to know how to communicate when grids are down. Come learn with us! We’re grateful to be hosted by @batherslibrary a community-supported art book library, work/performance space, shop, and weirdo art school in downtown Oakland.  This is a free event, but registration (in the bio) is required for a seat. #compassionincrisis   #mauirapidresponse  #batherslibrary #learningbyhand #leftyradioleague

RESTOFEST IS ONE MONTH AWAY! 🦫💧🌱 Come join us in the sierra foothills for this inaugural gathering where we will put our hands & hearts in service of the watershed through hands-on restoration, building beaver dam analogues (BDAS), & planting willows to stabilize wetland habitat. Throughout the festival, we will get to witness & experience & move to eight unique offerings in four locations across @wakamatsufarm from @secondfigband @sangsih.aiff @playgrndexperience @elias.ffss @covered_in_parmesan @imgraysonhoward @hitherandyonmusic @danielrayhilsinger @maggiezebrine — ranging from a theater production during dinner to full bands folk rock to ambient jazz saxophone to live DJs. Dinner Saturday & breakfast Sunday will be led by the ever-inspiring kitchen magician @ceremonial_chef with ferments by @feralecology made from foraged fruits & fungi. Join us in restoring the land, the water, & ourselves, celebrating our collective power to enact positive change, sharing meals & music, swimming in the living waters, resting our bodies on the land in what will become an annual celebration of life. #restofest #learningbyhand #geekforthecreek #arconservancy

RestoFest is coming — June 13 & 14! Step onto land that holds centuries of stories. From its Indigenous roots to the historic Wakamatsu Japanese settlement, this land has been shaped by stewardship, struggle, and resilience. This June, we’re gathering to honor that history — and to start writing a new chapter together. @resto.fest is a two-day celebration of healing: people, plants, water, and place. We’ll weave together ecology, community, and spirit — because water is life, and the watersheds we depend on need all of us. This is just the beginning. Come help us build something that those who come after us will be grateful for. 🌱 A collaboration between @learningbyhand , @symbiotic_restoration & @arconservancy — with the whole community behind us. 🎟️ Tickets in bio. See you there.

Upcoming events @learningbyhand May 16th / 10am - 2pm: Local Pollinators @ Lake Merritt w. @rei_scampavia @batherslibrary @rotarynaturecenterfriends May 23rd / 5pm - 7pm: Communications Disaster Response w. Lefty Radio League & @loamlove @batherslibrary June 13th & 14th - @resto.fest w. @symbiotic_restoration @arconservancy @wakamatsufarm TICKETS @ LINK IN BIO

RestoFest — June 13 & 14 Tickets available via the link in our bio. Join us for the first-ever @resto.fest , a two-day gathering rooted in place, memory, and possibility. Together, we’ll explore the layered history of the land—from its Indigenous origins to the Wakamatsu Japanese settlement (1869–71), through generations of private ownership, and into its current chapter of stewardship with American River Conservancy. These stories come together to reflect a shared legacy of care, disruption, resilience, and renewal. RestoFest is an invitation to imagine what comes next. Through connection, learning, and collaboration, we’ll explore how people can work alongside the natural world—and one another—to restore ecosystems, strengthen communities, and cultivate lasting resilience. Grounded in the understanding that water connects all life, this gathering centers the belief: Water is life. This event is a collaboration between @learningbyhand , @symbiotic_restoration , and @arconservancy , made possible by a growing network of partners, neighbors, and community members committed to the health of our shared landscapes.

Saturday, May 16th! Discover the world of native pollinators hiding in plain sight with @rei_scampavia , Bug Doctor, in an eye-opening exploration of Lake Merritt’s pollinator habitat. Organized by @learningbyhand ! Ticket link in bio (at our shop site)!

This May, we’re kicking off our cross-country book tour for Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster-Resilient Communities. And from coast to coast, we’ll be in conversation with on the ground community-based organizers. You can now save the dates for our entire 18-city tour at the link in our bio! As we continue to update registration links, we want to highlight our Bay Area events which are kicking off in a matter of weeks! We can’t wait to visit with, listen and learn from you all! See you soon, 🦋 * Point Reyes Books | Point Reyes, CA
May 17 @ 4 PM
With Annie Dobbs-Kramer * Green Valley Farm | Sebastopol, CA
May 18 @ 5:30 PM 
With Weaving Earth
 * Copperfields Books | Petaluma, CA
May 19 @ 7 PM
With Cool Petaluma * Nomadic Books | Oakland, CA 
May 20@ 5:30 PM
With Maui Rapid Response and Countstream Media * Bathers Library, Oakland, CA * May 23 @ 5PM 
with Learning by Hand, Maui Rapid Response, The Lefty Radio League * Down Below | Santa Cruz, CA
May 27 @ 5:30 PM With Kinvene and Thomas Sage Pedersen * Bay Area Book Festival | Berkeley, CA
May 30 @ 11 AM #loam #compassionincrisis #mutualaidislove #booktour

@resto.fest - June 13th and 14th - will provide a unique opportunity for our communities to trace the history of the land from its indigenous origins to the Wakamatsu Japanese settlement (1869-71) @wakamatsufarm to private landowners, to American River Conservancy, weaving together stories of stewardship, care, community, colonization, and regeneration. We hope for this gathering to be the first step in writing a new story about the healing capacity of humans to work with each other and with our plant and animal relatives to build networks of ecological, social, and spiritual resilience so that those who come after us have a clear path to walk on. We aim for this gathering to reflect and act upon the belief that WATER IS LIFE. RestoFest is a collaboration between: @learningbyhand , @symbiotic_restoration & @arconservancy with the support of our friends, neighbors, & extended community networks who are dedicated to supporting the resilience of the watersheds and ecologies we all depend on. BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

🌱🙌🏼🦫 HAPPY INTERNATIONAL BEAVER DAY (yesterday) !!! Our little festival is fast approaching and we are busy as beavers getting everything sorted and cute. #geekforthecreek #restofest #learningbyhand Early-bird tickets are ON SALE NOW! Link in bio 🪱

EARLY BIRD TICKETS ON SALE @ NOON! See you in the hills 🦫💧🌱 #restofest

@wakamatsufarm - The home of @resto.fest - is a 272 acre property on the National Historic Registry owned and managed by @arconservancy . This unique place is overflowing with history and provides a very special context for our community to connect with the land and water and the traditional lifeways of the Miwok, Nisenan, and Washoe people along with the history of the Wakamatsu area and Silk Farm Colony, established June 8, 1869. Join LBH, @symbiotic_restoration & @arconservancy & friends for a weekend of restoration, live music, local food, camping and more. Early Bird tickets on sale TOMORROW @ NOON PST!

ANNOUNCEMENT: A limited number of @resto.fest EARLY-BIRD TICKETS 🎟️ are on sale tomorrow at NOON PST. We will be announcing more tickets next week. Space is extremely limited 💧🌱🦫#learningbyhand #restofest #restoration #music RestoFest will provide a unique opportunity for our communities to trace the history of the land from its indigenous origins to the Wakamatsu Japanese settlement (1869-71) to private landowners, to American River Conservancy, weaving together stories of stewardship, care, community, colonization, and regeneration. We hope for this gathering to be the first step in writing a new story about the healing capacity of humans to work with each other and with our plant and animal relatives to build networks of ecological, social, and spiritual resilience so that those who come after us have a clear path to walk on. We aim for this gathering to reflect and act upon the belief that WATER IS LIFE. RestoFest is a collaboration between: Learning By Hand, Symbiotic Restoration & American River Conservancy with the support of our friends, neighbors, & extended community networks who are dedicated to supporting the resilience of the watersheds and ecologies we all depend on.