Is your family heading to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair next week? Check out the kid-friendly community art projected presented by the National Wildlife Federation and get inspired to protect the Great Lakes. The Art Zone location is at the north end of Ingalls Mall, near Washington Street and the food stands.

The art project - constructing a huge paper-mache sculpture of a spotted turtle with artist Chris Bednash - will bring together people of all ages to make a sculpture with special meaning for the "Great Lakes state." The spotted turtle is one of the Great Lakes' threatened species and suffers from wetlands habitat loss.

Staff and volunteers with the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Regional Center in Ann Arbor will be on-hand to share information on how people can make a difference in protecting the Great Lakes. And we are looking for more volunteers to help talk to participants about threats to the Great Lakes, including Asian carp.

If you would like to volunteer with the National Wildlife Federation at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, register here.

The community art project is a great chance for people from right here in Michigan and from around the world to have fun making art and finding out how they can help protect the Great Lakes. So, stop by the Art Zone tent ready to get your hands gooey in the paper mache's flour and water glue, and learn more about the Great Lakes.

Jennifer Janssen is a contributor from the Great Lakes Regional Center of the National Wildlife Federation. She writes about connecting with nature, supporting solutions to climate change and protecting the Great Lakes. She can be reached at janssenj@nwf.org.