For her latest project, Lauren Bon and the Metabolic Studio are at work with U.S. veterans at the Greater Los Angeles Healthcare Campus in West Los Angeles.

In an effort to bring awareness to the challenges of returning soldiers and to share the historic significance of the VA grounds, Lauren and her team have been creating a living sculpture and hands-on experience that includes veterans and the community at large.

Bon has created and unfurled a Strawberry Flag comprised of reclaimed strawberry plants growing in an aquaponic system. The project is located on the 300 + acre campus on a quad between buildings 205, 208 and 209, and uses outside resources brought in by the Metabolic Studio team — water from the LA River and solar power.

Strawberry Flag is in response to and in support of the enormous population of veterans, the largest in the U.S., who live in the greater Los Angeles area.

LA veterans work on various aspects of Strawberry FLAG which includes tending to the growth of the plants, harvesting, preserving and packaging the fruit. Veterans from the VA Compensated Work Therapy program and the VA Domiciliary, and other groups are instrumental with all parts of this project. Working side-by-side with the team from the Metabolic Studio and community volunteers, they work in a kitchen on campus assigned to Strawberry Flag, in the Flag print shop, and in the garden. Strawberries will be processed into “Veterans Preserves” and sold online to raise money for future veteran’s projects.

Lauren Bon and her studio team focus on resources as part of her F.L.A.G. (Farm Lab Agricultural Garden) projects. This process creates habitats of living things in often difficult environments of historic relevance to the city of Los Angeles. Strawberry FLAG joins three other Metabolic Studio projects, which together form a network of historical importance in mapping the biosphere that Los Angeles calls home.