On a chilly, rainy morning in October, a small crowd of adults and kids gathered along the river in Elgin, Iowa. They were there to do an art project, called "River Weaving." Using willow gathered from the river, the adults and kids built elements of a sculpture and placed them in the river.

“River Weaving is somewhat conceptual, very much about process and I think most importantly; River Weaving is about people coming together for a common goal and engaging with the environment. The project could be seen as centering on being good stewards of natural resources. The basic idea for River Weaving is: we are all connected (woven together) and that nature can be seen as the fabric” said Siblik

“River weaving is an environmental art project. Natural elements are made from pliable willow branches. These elements form the “warp” of the weaving and a river or stream is the weft” said Siblik.

The River Weaving Project came about after meeting with Dick Jensen, TAKO publicist Gary Richards, and Ted and Nancy Sojka of Art Educators of Iowa, this past summer. As one of the missions of TAKO (take a kid outside) is education and primarily outdoor education, Deick and Gary were looking to partner with educators in the are to help in organizing events.

"I have had the idea for this project for some time and had recently been investigating the possibility of doing the project as well as the materials to do it. My being introduced to Dick Jensen could not have come at a better time. After talking with Dick over the past few months and getting to know him, his projects and their benefit to the people of this area, and his commitment to the land: I am both honored and grateful to be associated with Dick and the TAKO project."

"Seems like whenever I bring this project up with folks around, the idea of the River Weaving seems to resonate with them. As I show people sketches of the river weaving, it seems that being able to visualize the concept--that we are all connected, woven together, and that nature is the fabric--produces a level of appreciation and understanding that words alone seem unable to achieve."

"As Dick Jensen, founder of TAKO puts it, 'we are all but one member of the whole land community with the shared fate of all its other members.' "

John Siblik, who has taught studio arts and art history at Upper Iowa University since 2002, describes his approach. “I make paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings which I think of as emblematic but not derivative, sometimes brushing up against sentiment, and at other times lyrical.” My work is also about relationships; starting with the individual and moving out in concentric rings effectively creating a community. River Weaving addresses the ideas and processes of community, environment, and emergence” said Siblik.

"Along with assembling the elements for the river weaving, we also worked on related weaving projects so that kids of all ages could get involved. We demonstrated how to make some woven fences: kids enjoyed helping with this. We made a big 12-foot dream catcher, smaller personal sized pieces, as well as some four coordinate pieces representing the cardinal points."