Atlanta Botanical Gardens Reflection: For my field trip to a cultural institution of Atlanta, I visited the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The last time I had been was in the spring of 2011, about three and a half years ago! The Atlanta Botanical Garden’s perimeter evoked a feeling of excitement while driving past, and then onto the grounds. The Secret Garden was one of my favorite movies as a child (corny, I know), so it is no wonder I love visiting the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Aside from the excitement of arriving, I was most excited to see artwork from Dale Chihuly in the Harden Visitor Center. One of Dale Chihuly’s brightly colored glass chandeliers in hues of yellow, gold and orange hangs from the ceiling of the Visitor Center. Chihuly had an exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden back in 2004 titled Chihuly in the Garden, which I was unable to attend. However, I immediately recognized the sculpture because on vacation in the spring, I visited the museum of Chihuly Garden and Glass. Since the last, and only, time I visited The Atlanta Botanical Garden was in the spring, I was anticipating a lackluster showing of plants since most blooming plants die off before October, but I was so wrong! In fact, my October visit was more enjoyable than my spring visit! I’m sure a lot of people share my belief that there would be nothing to see in October, with the exception of the indoor exhibits, so there was less of a crowd to contend with both in the indoor and outdoor exhibits. In addition to the small volume of people, the outdoor exhibits were incredibly awe-inspiring! Every October the Atlanta Botanical Garden hosts nearly 100 scarecrows that are handcrafted by organizations, individuals or families, schools, and businesses. Some of the scarecrows featured in the gardens represent breast cancer awareness, a merman, a “ghoul scout,” Edward Scissorhands, the characters from Where the Wild Things Are, Vincent Van Crogh with his Starry Night painting, Alice in Wonderland, Crowlaf (The snowman from the movie Frozen) and Harry Potter (made out of flower pots). The best part of the experience was by far the Living Sculptures of Imaginary Worlds. The team at the Atlanta Botanical Garden partnered with International Mosaiculture of Montreal to stage the first exhibition of its kind in the U.S. The Living Sculptures allow visitors to explore a garden “enchanted” by 28 huge living sculptures. Some of the living sculptures include butterflies, a giant berry, orangutans, gorillas, rabbits, fish, frogs, cobras, an Earth Goddess (the biggest sculpture), a unicorn, and an ogre among others. Each sculpture’s distinguishing features are comprised of a multitude of plants, hence the title of “Living sculptures,” including my favorite plant—the succulent! Each sculpture was created from steel forms that were covered with netting and soil. Thousands of annuals were then planted on the forms and are groomed and maintained on a weekly basis to ensure the artistic lines stay put as the plants grow and flourish. The Living Sculpture exhibit has been at The Atlanta Botanical Garden for several years, but is being taken down at the end of this month. This goes without saying, but I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to marvel at the amazing plant sculptures. It was an experience I will never forget.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 19:35:08 +0000
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