The month of June offers us the opportunity to celebrate, pause and reflect. For students, it is a chance to contemplate the successes of the school year. For several communities it is a time to honor change and champion continued progress.

As we enter the summer season Pease Park Conservancy continues to praise the shade trees offer us among their many other benefits. After last week’s storms, Pease Park has lost much-needed shade, but the Conservancy’s Park Operations Team has been working diligently to collect debris and assess damaged structures.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. After celebrating Earth and all of its wonder, we are left thinking about the way our planet’s health and our individual wellbeing are intrinsically connected.

No matter your motivation, we invite you to join one of our recurring Pease Corps Volunteer Events this Mental Health Awareness month as we steward wellness through our natural spaces.

For many of us, May is one of the most hectic months of the year. It brings finals, deadlines, gatherings, and transitions. Taking care of your mental health can fall by the wayside when you have a lot going on; but without some intentional self-care, our health, relationships, and productivity can suffer.

Dr. Curtis Eckerman, Department Chair of Biology at Austin Community College, is a friend of Pease Park and an expert in moths. Each semester he leads his students in moth studies in Kingsbury Commons and wishes to share this passion with others.

As our featured April blogpost in our series (Conversations in Conservation), he has given us a sneak peek into the magic of mothing.

This spring Dr. Eckerman has graciously extended the invitation for all Austinites to join him and his students in a moth expedition. Click here to join!

The Thomas Dambo team and Pease Park Conservancy volunteers have been hard at work, and our Austin troll is complete! We invite you to come take the Troll Trek and here is how…

Curious about the materials used to build the Pease Park troll?

More than 80% of Malin’s Fountain is made from recycled, repurposed, or found materials. A local sawmill with the mission of giving new life to Austin’s fallen trees, Harvest Lumber Co. recovered materials from a research test tank at The University of Texas JJ Pickle Research Center and custom-milled it to be used for Malin’s Fountain’s exterior cladding. Here are some more specifics.

As National Bird Feeding Month comes to a close, let us reflect – to feed or not to feed?

We are excited to announce that a Thomas Dambo Troll installation will soon be underway in Pease Park! After overwhelming support from the community during community engagement in the fall and an extensive review process with the City of Austin, this project is a go!

Thomas Dambo Troll Frequently Asked Questions

Please read through the Frequently Asked Questions about the Thomas Dambo Troll being installed in Pease Park. If you still have questions that remain unanswered, please reach out to us at info@peasepark.org.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pease Park Conservancy is thrilled to host its 3rd annual MLK Day Food Drive, a dedicated day of service aimed at alleviating local communities' food insecurity.

We invite you to join this initiative by bringing donations to the Tudor Cottage in Kingsbury Commons on Monday, January 15th between 12 pm and 2 pm! Large heavy-weight boxes to help transport donations are appreciated too.

Have you seen the really big dragonflies?

Like their giant ancestors from a prehistoric era, these brightly colored Odonates will glide along Shoal Creek in Pease Park through April of 2024. Enter the Dragonfly, previously exhibited in Waller Creek as a part of Waterloo Greenway’s Creek Show in 2022, draws our attention to some of the creatures that need the complex riparian ecosystem that the creek provides. Scaled down, you might have even seen a Flame Skimmer or Blue Dasher in similar bright colors along the creek on a summer day.

We value the importance of being mindful with gift-giving, especially during the holiday season. By supporting local businesses, creating handmade gifts, or donating to causes that hold a special place in our hearts we can make a positive impact in our community. To make things easier for you, we've put together a gift guide that features a variety of local businesses and organizations that you can support. We hope that this guide will help make your gift-giving experience more meaningful and enjoyable!

With the support and curiosity of groups and individuals, Pease Park continues to thrive as an urban greenspace for all. It is our commitment and privilege to sustain Austin’s first and oldest park alongside the very people who cherish the ecosystem.

It’s with great honor and importance that Pease Park Conservancy fulfills its role in preserving this 84 acres of green space. We foster Pease Park for the sustainable use and enjoyment of all by working collaboratively with city departments, community groups, and partner organizations on conservation efforts at the park.

Environmental learning is a core value of the Conservancy. Our field trip program is part of our commitment to encourage the next generation of Austinites to steward our natural areas and green spaces.

With a new academic year, we wanted to take a second to talk about renaming our field trip program from the Ecologist School to the Peasecology School, while giving you a glimpse into what the year has in store.

Welcome to Nicole Netherton, who will join Pease Park Conservancy as the new Chief Executive Officer starting on Monday, November 6! Nicole’s background is in nonprofit management for environmental conservation organizations, and she was most recently the Executive Director for Travis Audubon, a position she held for five and a half years.

You might remember, Pease Park Conservancy and the Tejemos Foundation are exploring the possibility of a public art donation to the City of Austin in Pease Park: a Thomas Dambo Troll. We have heard from nearly 1,500 people through our survey and 85% of those who have responded are in support of the Thomas Dambo Troll being installed in Pease Park. We have learned a lot and we want to provide you with an update.

Thomas Dambo Troll in Pease Park

Pease Park Conservancy is exploring the feasibility of a public artwork donation from the Tejemos Foundation and the Conservancy to the City of Austin. The proposed artwork is a Thomas Dambo troll sculpture made from recycled and reused wood that would be commissioned and installed in Pease Park in early 2024. Please read through our FAQs here before completing the survey attached below.

Thank you for providing your input on this idea through this very brief survey.