MONARCH-MAKER GARDEN

An initiative to support endangered Monarch butterflies

Art Barn is now part of a world-wide network of Monarch “Waystations” where the endangered butterflies are supported during their lifecycle.

Nearly 460 square feet of planting beds have been converted to viable breeding and feeding habitat for monarch butterflies. The 69-acre campus includes a 100-year-old renovated barn and related buildings used to support the Art Barn mission - to provide quality art education programs for all ages in a supportive creative environment in order to enrich the quality of life in the region. Art Barn is an ideal setting to link art to environmental awareness.

Milkweed is a keystone plant species for monarchs’ reproductive cycle. Several varieties of milkweed native to our area are needed for the monarch's survival. Because it is important to support the entire life cycle (from egg to migrating adult) we have included a variety of native flowering plants where monarchs and other pollinators may feed as well as water features for hydration.

"Monarch habitat is declining due to development and the widespread use of herbicides in croplands, pastures and roadsides. Because 90% of all milkweed/monarch habitats occur within the agricultural landscape, farm practices have the potential to strongly influence monarch populations.”

Development and widespread use of herbicides has destroyed habitats for monarchs and other wildlife at a rate of 6,000 acres a day - roughly equivalent to losing an area of habitat the size of the state of Illinois every sixteen years.

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