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The Wicker Park
Garden Club is excited and working hard on the COMMUNITY GARDENS IN
THE PARKS EXHIBIT for the
2009 Chicago Flower and Garden Show - Navy Pier - March 7 - 15
CONTACT:
Doug Wood, WPGarden Club, 2128 W. Evergreen,
Chicago,
IL
60622
(773) 278-9075
DESIGNERS - Denise
Browning, Jim Angrabright, Leslie Zimmerman, Richard Tilley, Amy
Brinkman, Susan Fontana, Doug Wood
Community Gardens in the Parks Information:
http://www.cpdit01.com/resources/community_gardens/index.html
GARDENS IN THE
PARKS - EXHIBIT THEME
- The
2009 Chicago Flower & Garden Show highlights garden
themes that promote environmental consciousness such as rain
gardens, xeriscaping, habitat gardens, roof gardens, non-invasive
plants, composting and recycled materials.
The
Community
Gardens in the Parks exhibit has a working title of 'Paradise in a
Parking Lot' in reference to Joni Mitchell's lyric - 'they tore down
Paradise and Made a Parking Lot.' The idea here - is that this
garden was once a parking lot and it has been recycled into a
Community Garden. Remnants of the Parking Lot are present: asphalt
pieces, car stops, parking meters, barricades, and 3 support pillars
- towers (from the parking ramp) that serve as living wall
components. The transformation of Parks after gardens are installed
in them include – increased public usage, lower crime rates,
enhanced community programming, and increased event scheduling – all
benefiting the surrounding neighborhood and Chicago at large. The
Wicker Park Garden Club, coordinators of this exhibit, have done
this work in and seen these benefits in their west side Chicago
neighborhood.
View the complete
exhibit and
design information
here.
The
following greening initiatives have been included in the Community
Gardens in the Parks exhibit:
-
Recycling -
Paper and Plant Materials into homemade paper for Kite
-
Sculpture. Also
all plants used in the exhibit will be recycled into Park
Gardens.
-
Conservation of
Water - rain gardens
-
Alternative
source of energy - solar panels
-
Conservation of
Energy- cooling - Living Walls
PLANT LIST
- The
plant list includes plants used in this exhibit and the times
they are forced in preparation for the Navy Pier Exhibit. All
plants will return to the conservatory after the show and be housed
there until they can be moved outside and located in
Chicago's
Parks.
ARTISTIC COMPONENT:
We are working with Michael Thompson,
Chicago Sculptor and
incorporating his 3 dimensional and two dimension work. There is a
great similarity between the kites and solar panels. The kites would
be hung above the exhibit with a solar panel - and work as an
extrapolation of the form of the solar panel and add height to the
exhibit. Also, the surface patterns of the two dimension kites
provide the patterns used in the plant materials when designing the
living walls.
www.michaelthompsonart.com
KITE MATERIALS:
We will
make paper from recycled plant materials and recycled paper to be
used on the kites. The volunteers from around the city and children
in our children's Park Kids Grow Programs will make the paper and
work on the kite constructions during the January to March
workshops. We plan to auction the kites to raise funding for the
community gardens that participate in the program.
For Details on the
Park Kids Grow Project click here.
LIVING WALLS
- The exhibit will feature 3 towers that incorporate
ETL living
wall component - each tower will hold four 20in X 20in panels.
The towers are to be remnants of an old parking structure with
downspouts attached to them that feed into the rain garden. Plants
that can be used for the walls are included in the
plant
file.
RAIN GARDEN: The
topography of the exhibit funnels all water into the rain garden
area. We will feature plants that (for the most part) are hardy to
the zone 5 region.
VOLUNTEERS TO GROW
PLANTS-INSTALL SHOW-BE DOCENTS AT THE SHOW -
We have recruited members of the Community Gardens in the
Park groups, Master Gardeners, member of Wicker Park Garden Club
members, and other gardeners from all over Chicagoland to work on
forcing the plants and then installing them at Navy Pier. All
Docent will be given a background in green technology. We will
offer a 10 week class in January for learning the principles of
forcing and to work Saturdays
10am-1pm in the
Conservatories. The yearly Wicker Park Garden Lecture Series
(November - April) is focused on the topic of conservation and
greening. In addition, we can discuss the topics designed into the
exhibit with those who view it and have materials on hand for
economic initiatives given to home owners who incorporate these
ideas.
THE LECTURE SERIES
– All docents for the show attend this year our November-February
Lecture Series focusing on Green Technologies.
See Lectures section for more
information.
SPONSORS:
The Chicago
Park District & Parkways Foundation – The Park District is funding
plant purchases and conservatory space before and after show as well
as support in the techniques of forcing the plants and installing
them at Navy Pier. Parkways Foundation is funding the kite project
and artist stipend. The Wicker Park Garden Club has designed the
exhibit, recruited and trained volunteers, and coordinates with Park
District personal.
www.chicagoparkdistrict.com,
www.parkways.org,
www.wpgarden.org
Many people have
contributed to this exhibit, and we'd like to extend our thanks to
all that who have contributed to the show
Park District Consultants - The Conservatory Staff:
Mary Eysenbach, Miguel del Valle, Steven Meyer, Unni Koch, John
Refetto, Adam Schwerner - Director of Natural Resources
Parkways Foundation Staff:
Brenda Palm,
Cameron Robbins
Community
Gardens
in the Parks and Environmental Staff:
Liz.O'Callaghan,
Brendan Daley, Jane Schenck
WPGarden Workshop Instructors - Coordinate with Conservatory Staff:
Doug Wood,
Leslie Zimmerman, Jim Angrabright, Denise Browning, Richard Tilley,
Larry Clary, Amy Brinkman, Susan Fontana, Vicki Spacko
Paper Making Teachers - WPGarden:
Doug Wood, Denise
Browning, Leslie Zimmerman, Amy Brinkman, Petrina Patti
Collaborating Artist:
Michael Thompson,
Sculptor
www.michaelthompsonart.com
Volunteers – Teachers, Docents, Installers: Click
here to download information relevant to preparatory lecture and
research materials:
Thanks to these folks and many others for your time and efforts: Jennifer Albom, Jim
Angrabright, Elizabeth Bowles,Amy Brinkman, Denise Browning, Ann
Cata, Larry Clary, Iris Colon, Anne Comeau, Arielle Corbett, Marni
Curtis, Ginny Davis, Laurie Dettmer, Karen Dorff, Arcelia Eschotto,
Susan Fontana, Sandra Forkins, Donna Forsberg, Jackie Gaensslen, Sue
Gasper, Ann Glapa, Frank Glapa, Susan Goss, Liz Gould, Diane
Handelsman, Vanessa Harris, Jerome Hossli, Lianne Howard, Madiem
Kawa, Amy Kelly, Linda Khalouf, Marian Koch, Edith Koniecyko,
Natalie Koniecyko, Dan Lynch, Eva Mannaberg, Sam Marts, Jalaine May,
Rosalie McMenamin, Ruth Melulis, Patsy Mendez, Jane Michalski,
Timothy Thilleman, Betsy Minor,Mia Moore, Gloria and Al Needlman,
Donna Nelson, Mary Oellrich, Michael Oster, Marilyn Parsons, Petrina
Patti, Petrina, Cameron Robbins, Pam Rock, Rolando Salvela, Nancy
Schmitt, Brian Shea, Vicki Spacko, John Sweeney, Jacquelene Tanaka,
Maureen Taylor, Peggy Thoma, Richard Tilley, Joseph Vallee,
Rosemarie Wade, Bonnie Webb, Marilyn Witney, Douglas Wood, Grant
Wood, Laura Young, Joyce Yuen, Leslie Zimmerman, Dorothy Zukoski |
