On this International Women’s Day, we’re honoring the visionary, natural dyer and community organizer that is Kenya Miles—artist, urban farmer, and founder of Blue Light Junction, Baltimore’s first natural dye studio and a living monument to love in action. As Kenya and her team enter a new chapter of tending vats, garden beds, and community, they’re asking for our tangible support to keep this sanctuary of global dye traditions, education, and mutual care thriving. If Blue Light Junction’s work resonates with you, please take a moment today to visit their GoFundMe and give what you can, share if you’re able, and help carry this deeply rooted, women-led project into its next season.
How does this GoFundMe reflect your journey from natural dye teaching to embodying “love in action” at Blue Light Junction (BLJ)?
We are grateful to be in community with so many creative, curious and kind people in Baltimore and beyond. The love keeps showing up… in the ways people feel bound and held by Blue Light Junction as a physical place of expression and experimentation, in the hands that work to support stewardship of the “annex” dye garden and the natural rhythm of fellowship that surrounds gathering throughout the year. We are constantly teaching and learning collectively and our GoFundMe is an act towards keeping this energy and inertia alive.
In what ways does the “blue light” symbolism from Ta-Nehisi Coates’ work continue to inspire the studio’s cultural and regenerative focus?
“There was a peace in that blue light, more peace than sleep itself, and more than that there was a freedom, and I knew that the elders had not lied, that there really was a home place of our own.”
THE WATER DANCER, TA-NEHISI COATES
The namesake of the studio is derived from a quote from the first chapter of The Water Dancer. The first person to ever ask me how the studio got its name was a 7 year old who was on a school trip at BLJ. She was staring at the marigolds strung from the ceiling and kind of marveling at the beauty of what she had stepped into, palpable. I still remember her and how it felt to me in that moment, the awe and freedom in the beauty surrounding her was hers to enjoy, to take pleasure and delight in. Blue Light Junction is a place where culture, community and connection find home and continue to stimulate us in our modern lives. It is proof that all things are possible.
What role can our Botanical Colors readers play in sustaining knowledge bearers and urban farming through this campaign?
BLJ functions on a ‘small is all” ethos. I used to joke that workshops and events in our early years were a “secret”. I am not the best at social media or marketing and also find that working with our hands means less time on screen and being more in the making. We realize that as the work of the studio began to spread by word of mouth it was also important to share with our broader community who may not be able to visit the studio in person. Our work is a natural celebration, exalting and uplifting of those who carry knowledge, those who seek knowledge and those who are curious to learn more. We hope that folks who are part of this extended community will engage more deeply in care, context, collaboration and protection of our one and precious earth and the people and plants that inhabit it.
What are the primary funding targets for this GoFundMe, such as studio buildout, the Hidden Harvest dye garden, Ibura Residency stipends, or workshop operations?
One day I had a good idea! Lets start a studio….I joke about this in my very sarcastic way lol. I had no idea what it would take to build a space with so many dimensions and expanding opportunities. To truly be “in community”. The studio has so many big dreams and while we are still looking for ways to support our work as a “social enterprise” we realize that the model of non-profits (which BLJ is not) has its challenges as well. In our 6th year we are riding this wave of finding what fits best for the programming we have built as a foundation of the space. The Hidden Harvest “annex” dye garden predates BLJ and was started by Rosa Chang and I in 2019. It’s really the core of the space and allows us all to be grounded in earth practice in our very urban environment. Our bi-annual Ibura Art and Research Residency gives space, resources and time to practitioners to engage in questions and investigations around their work and the work of the studio. BLJ hosts workshops and community based cultural events throughout the year some of which have become traditions for us like our Lunar New Year Lantern making or Dia de Muertos celebration. Running this space is a gift in these moments with a team who deeply care about their personal and creative collaboration to the work. Our GoFundMe is working to support all of the above and the livelihoods of those committed to the inner workings of such a dynamic project.
How does raising $150,000 align with Blue Light Junction’s five-year evolution from a 2020 startup to a community sanctuary?
BLJ began as a sanctuary, really. We opened our doors in March 2020 and by April we were all running to the garden and studio to gather, be outside of our homes and pods and lysol everything, touch earth, give thanks, grieve, and rejoice. While the sky felt like it was falling we chose to focus on “our 10 blocks” to take care of our neighbors and ourselves and make an impact in the day to day of our unknowable lives (and futures). Our beginnings set the tone for who and what we stand on, imperfect and fallible as the next human beings in evolution but eager to do our very best and to pivot when we are called to do so. Money is necessary to continue this work. We honor that reality while also honoring and staying steady in our vision, values and commitments.
How has the dye garden—planted with indigo, marigolds, and native species—grown since 2019, and what expansions are planned?
We are always working on what legacy we hope to leave in our direct community. How we can do better in our work and spend greater time learning and growing together (garden pun intended). We continue to welcome in scholars of plant medicine, dye and fiber and have worked to grow a variety of native and culturally relevant plants each season. We have been working for several years with community partners on a project with Nature’s Sacred to support building a pavilion in the “annex” for covered seating, to support workshops, respite and relaxing in the garden. Our continued partnership with The Farm Alliance of Baltimore’s Black Butterfly Garden (BBUFA) where we grow Indigo and in partnership with Rosa Chang’s Indigo Shade Map project will hold our second year of The Indigo Apprenticeship Program where apprentices are able to learn from seed to growing, to harvesting to processing in an urban landscape. We harvest and process indigo seeds from the BBUFA and sell them online. We also work with various K-12 schools, universities and organizations to bring their visions of nature and dye practice to fruition.
Can you share progress on the Ibura Art and Research Residency, including recent artists and how funds will enhance stipends and community events?
The Ibura Art and Research Residency has hosted a total of 14 residents between 2022-2024. In 2025 we brought together 11 of the former residents to participate in a group exhibition, Return of The Residents housed in Studio Blue (BLJ’s second floor) which featured the work of Savannah Wood, Najee Haynes Follins, Diego Borgsdorf Fuenzalida, Samantha Sethi, Vanessa Villarreal, Jordan Brown, Angelique Scott, Rosina Saqib, Celia Saygbay, Linnea Poole and Jazz Williams. It was our first exhibition curated by team member and former resident Rosina Saqib with programming support from Melissa Sutherland Moss. The turn out and feedback was tremendous! We are excited to welcome back another group of residents in the Fall of 2026 with funding to support the continued practice, research and community engagement of the program. It really is something so special!
What new workshops or events, honoring global craft traditions, are you excited to host with this funding?
Each year we have a new crop of offerings that happen with the support of our team’s vision but also people sharing the work of artists that we look to BLJ as visiting artists for multi day immersive workshops. This Spring, we are hosting an incense making workshop with some dried ground items from the garden, a bouquet making workshop where participants will make one bouquet to take and one to give to our neighboring community members, I am teaching Printing Possibilities for the first time at the BLJ, and we are hosting an indigo dyeing and quilting workshop and a sound bath with 20 instruments. Our programming can be found here and we are excited to build out more as the year progresses.
Any final last things you would like us to know?
I am grateful for the support and mentorship and friendship of Kathy Hattori and the team at Botanical Colors. I want to thank our amazing Team Blue: Jorgelina Lopez, Rosa Chang, Melissa Sutherland Moss, Vetiver Napper and Rosina Saqib.
This is a year for grounding in gratitude, counting our blessings and being in the flow of change.
With gratitude,
Kenya Miles