Artists' Gardens in the Garden City
Media Release #6-09: St. Catharines and Area Arts Council and City of St. Catharines present Artists’ Garden in the Garden City
Artists Gardens in the Garden City is a project which aims to beautify the city in artistic and thought-provoking ways, by creating statements within the city using gardens as an artistic medium. So far, the St. Catharines and Area Arts Council has facilitated the creation and completion of two artist gardens, with the funding and support of the City of St. Catharines, the Downtown Association, the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
The first garden, entitled Arch, was created by artist Don Dormandy. The piece, located on James Street, was a garden linking t two raised beds with a skeletal metal structure, amplifying the symmetry of the existing streetscape. The garden explored the symbiotic relationship between natural growth and built landscape – nature recovers quickly, encroaching and invading our constructed legacies, yet the preservation of many thousands of individual species and habitats now depend on engineered supports and systems of human intervention. Arch was planted with various vines, grasses, yucca, daisies and coneflowers.
The second garden, entitled Wheels on the Bus, was created by artist Elizabeth Chitty. This garden, located on Carlisle Street outside of the St. Catharines Bus Terminal, celebrates public transit as a key strategy of “green” and sustainable communities. Old tires are usually associated with dumping grounds – this garden recycles bus tires as plant trellises. Additionally, to further “green” downtown, the garden is planted with plants that are attractive to birds and butterflies. The title references the song familiar to toddlers everywhere. The artist hopes that those driving by on a local or inter-city bus pulling out of the nearby terminal may notice this garden hiccup in the urban landscape and smile.
