T
BY DAMAINE VONADA
OHIO ICON
THE
TOPIARY PARK
Columbus Location: East Town Street, near the Columbus Museum of Art and Columbus Metropolitan Library. Provenance: In the 1980s, sculptor James T. Mason got an idea for a garden of topiaries that re-create A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat’s famous postimpressionist painting of Parisians enjoying a park on the Seine River. He presented the idea to what then was the Columbus Parks Department, and when the concept earned It’s the only approval, Mason and his wife, Elaine, began creating known topiary living sculptures made from garden that yews on the grounds of the city’s Old Deaf School Park. interprets a He planted the evergreens work of art. and fashioned bronze frameworks to support them, while she shaped the yews into topiaries representing the figures in Seurat’s 1884 masterpiece. Significance: Featuring the only known topiary garden that interprets a work of art, Topiary Park is not only unique, it’s world-famous. Its landscape mimics a landscape painting: a man-made pond represents the Seine, and the topiaries depict 54 human figures, eight boats, three dogs, a monkey, and a cat. Currently: Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2017, the Topiary Park is a popular neighborhood haven as well as a prime tourist attraction in Columbus’ Discovery District. Although the city’s Recreation and Parks Department oversees the park, volunteers from the Friends of the Topiary Park help to maintain and operate it. “The park gets visitors
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from countries as far away as France and Japan, and it’s included in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens,” says Friends Executive Director Carlene Palmquist. Topiary Park also features a Tree Walk, with winding pathways and dozens of different trees. At the Town Street entrance, the Gatehouse — reminiscent of a French farmhouse — doubles as a gift shop and visitor center, with exhibits about the park. In addition to the self-guided tour information that’s available at the Gatehouse, the Friends group also schedules docent-led tours, for a fee.
si yo ev ar b in co re
It’s a little-known fact that: For the best view of the Topiary Garden, visitors should go to the east side of the park and stand at the top of the hill that has an easel with a bronze relief replica of Seurat’s painting. DAMAINE VONADA
cr ca an o
is a freelance writer from Xenia.
The Topiary Park, 480 E. Town St., Columbus, OH 43215. Free; open daily, dawn to dusk. Gatehouse Visitors’ Center open April through October; hours vary. For information about tours, and seasonal events, call 614-645-0197 or visit www.topiarypark. org or www.columbus.gov/recreationandparks/ parks/Topiary-Garden-(Deaf-School-Park)/.
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