| Gainesville
A Note from the Director This year promises to be an exciting one for the Gainesville garden, with an expansion project, new programming and an exciting exhibition. But before sharing those details, I would like to thank the devoted group of volunteers who support our efforts at the garden. From greeting visitors to Nature Ambassadors in the Children’s Garden to repotting or weeding in the greenhouse or garden, we could not be successful without them. I am thrilled to announce that Beverly Halsey will become our new part-time Volunteer Coordinator. She has been with the Gainesville garden in Visitor Services for five years and will bring new energy and enthusiasm to both our current volunteer team and new volunteer recruitment. Late winter or early spring will bring the sound of bulldozers to the garden as we begin phase 1 of our parking lot expansion. We are very excited to be able to add about 300 new spaces, with more to come in a second phase of expansion. This will be a great opportunity to reduce and eventually eliminate our use of shuttle buses for concert performances. It will also allow us to expand our current program offerings – from tours to smaller concerts to Family Fun Days. In addition, the garden is excited to welcome Sean Kenney’s Nature Connects Made With LEGO Bricks from March – May. We hosted a previous Nature Connects exhibition the first year the garden was open, and it was a delight for children, parents and grandparents. The new exhibit will be nestled into a more mature garden, now nearly seven years old! And finally, look for exciting changes and additions from summer through fall to our perennial borders and Stream Garden. As the garden matures, light and soil conditions change, and we must adjust plantings accordingly. This will be a wonderful opportunity to add not only tried-and-true perennials but also new cultivars of old standards as well. Look forward to seeing you in the garden! Mildred Fockele Gainesville Garden Director
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atlantabg.org
Nature Connects
Brick by brick, new exhibit aims to connect guests with nature
The Gainesville Garden will present a new sculpture exhibition this spring that begs the question: How are elements of the natural world connected? Sean Kenney’s Nature Connects Made with LEGO® Bricks, set for March 4 – May 30, features sculptures by artist Sean Kenney constructed entirely of LEGO bricks. These precisely built yet whimsical pieces are designed to inspire both the young and the young-at-heart about the natural world. Kenney uses only standard, off-theshelf, commercially available LEGO pieces for his sculptures – no special colors or shapes. Each piece is connected to another, and the sculptures are built within the rules of the LEGO system. The sculptures require exacting detail and countless hours – the roseate skimmer dragonfly, for example, took more than 500 hours to build, while the intricate corn spider required 135 hours. For the exhibition, 15 sculptures will be nestled among beds throughout the main garden, creating a sense of exploration and adventure as visitors stroll along the pathways. They reflect themes that include pollination, endangered animals and habitat preservation. The largest piece is a stunning, ornate peacock constructed of more than 68,000 bricks. There are
In 2015, the Gainesville garden presented a Nature Connects exhibit that included a butterfly, praying mantis and hummingbird. also deer in the garden (the LEGO bricks kind), with a buck and doe watching over a baby fawn. Because the exhibition surely will inspire budding artists, ecologists and builders to dream big, after seeing the sculptures guests no doubt will want to go home and create their own sculptures. Mildred Fockele Gainesville Garden Director