For the past 8 years, NEIM has provided educational programming for preschool and grade-school aged kids. After relocating almost yearly and experiencing a subsequent lack of stability in programming, we entered into a rental agreement with a purchase option at our current location 2 years ago. We are now situated in Decorah’s vibrant downtown, enabling our children to feel a part of the community and allowing them to visit local businesses. Our downtown location has one drawback, however, our outdoor playground is a former empty lot. We've improved the space with willow structures and garden beds, but nothing has been done about the sad retaining wall that forms the northwest side of the playground.

That's where the moss comes in!

With the help of Art Education students at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa we will invite the kids back to school for a mid-summer moss painting party. Kids will learn a bit about moss and how it grows. Then with supervision they'll make the "moss paint" (a blended concoction of moss, buttermilk, and sugar). Together they will paint the sad gray, cinder-block wall, turning it into a fantastic natural backdrop for the kids' boundless imagination. We can't wait.