calarts community garden
Established fall 2005 with the students of Fritz Haeg's CalArts studio. Also in conjunction with Haeg's seminar "The Fine Art of Radical Gardening"
> nikhil murthy, t.a. / students: nick murray / madison metro / elisa lopez / john burtle / noah parrent / miles martinez / sam michel / alexandra lewin / karina simburger / max maslansky / nate hollander / enrique castrejon / courtney bubeck / zachary kellogg / cara king / stefani greenwood / katie hamburger / chad dilley / becca kessin / anna jones / diana daughtry / jackson fleder / marina heintze / erek daves / sam gehry / marcos siref / mercedes schwartz / victor hu / heather rasmussen
reports...
08.13.08 - this summer has been very exciting in the garden, we grew all the classics ,sunflowers, tomatoes, peppers, carots, beans corn, squash, as well as some more exotic things like turkish orange eggplant, tomatillos, purple basil, pomegranates an espechaly good combo was pairing beans with the sunflowers i have been the primary care taker for the last year. i am leaving soon to do a residency in germany and was kinda worried about the future of the garden, but a lot of people have been interested recently. people have started to add things besides plants, my favorate is a stepping stone of george bush's face the plot system is totally gone, which is more complicated, but keeps more of the garden utilized. - John Burtle, CalArts '08
05.25.07 - I was up at CalArts recently and the garden project has taken root beautifully. Claudia Parducci, CalArts '07
07.25.06 - I have been caught up in wildfire mania and barely watered the gardens in Valencia during the worst of the heat wave. I did go up the other day and they seem surprisingly healthy. Someone has been attentive. Claudia Parducci, CalArts '07
07.09.06 - well, the garden is looking pretty shabby due to the heat and the absence of people on campus that would be watering on a regular basis. I don't want it to go away with next year and i am sure the rest of the garden people dont either. i have corresponded with some nurseries and i am waiting to hear back from some about donations. - Stefani Greenwood, CalArts, '06
07.06.06 - Today I harvested 2 giant zucchinis, a cucumber, some corn and tomatoes. Caroline harvested another big zucchini as is documented on her website http://www.carolineoh.com. It’s super fun and I’m so happy that we have this garden. - Roman Jaster, CalArts '07
11.15.05 - The 23 students of the Valencia Gardenlab class at California Institute of the Arts have removed some of the lawn in the Lulu May von Hagen Courtyard. In it’s place they have established a community garden consisting of 20 plots to be used by students, faculty and staff and an area for experimentation with native low-water plants. There is also a 3 bin composting system which will turn the organic waste from the cafeteria and campus grounds into rich garden soil and mulch. The Calarts Garden Club will be initiated in 2006 to manage the gardens and campus composting system.
An inaugural exhibition is on view in the L shaped gallery (just beyond the school’s main entry) through Friday, November 18th. The students will be hosting an opening reception at the garden this Thursday, November 17th from 7:00 – 10:00pm. The party will continue at the gallery space from 9:00 – midnight.
the original community garden plots & gardeners as of April 8th, 2006:
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l 01 l 02 l 03 l
04 l 05 l 06 l 07 l
08 l 09 l 10 l
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l 11 l 12 l 13 l
14 l 15 l 16 l 17 l
18 l 19 l 20 l
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01 - Becca Kessin: MFA 2/Music, 'pickle garden'
02 - Madison Metro: 'japanese rock garden'
03 - Max Maslansky & Nate Hollander: MFA 2/Art & BFA 3/Art, 'the pedestrian garden'
04 - Chad Dilley & Anna Jones: BFA 3/Art & BFA 3/ Art, 'baked potato garden'
05 - Enrique Castrejon & Courtney Bubeck: MFA 2/Art & BFA 2/Art, 'el jardin lindo'
06 - Elisa Lopez & Miles Martinez: BFA 4/Art & BFA 2/Photo, 'remedy garden'
07 - Victor Hu: MFA 1/Graphic
08 - Zachary Kellogg: BFA 1/Art
09 - Tamika Cotright: BFA 3/Photo
10 - Nikhil Murthy: MFA
11 - Matias Viegener: Faculty, ‘the new world’
12 - Cara King id-10: 'natives garden'
13
14 - Steven Wendt: BFA 1/Theatre
15 - Roman Jasper & Caroline Oh: Graphic Designers
16
17 - Ruchika Mandhyan: MFA 2, Film Directing, Native Garden
18
19 - Dave Burton: BFA 3, Photo, Night blooming
20 - Karina Simburger & Stefani Greenwood: BFA 3/Photo (x2), ‘experimental+drought resistant’
Proposal for the
CalArts Community Garden
We are proposing the creation of a student run garden on the CalArts campus.
This garden is to be designed and installed by the students of the grad fine
art studio "Valencia Gardenlab" taught by visiting artist Fritz Haeg.
It would include a small xeriscape low-water garden of plants native to the
region and a community garden with approximately 30 plots available to students,
faculty and staff. Plots could be used for anything from food production and
flower beds to experiments and art installations. As an alternative to the computer
and technical labs, this space will provide students with a location on campus
to observe and experiment with organic processes.
Once the garden is established by the end of the fall 2005 term, a student organization, the CalArts Garden Club, would be formed to take responsibility for maintenance and operations. It would then continue into the spring 2006 term. At the beginning of each subsequent academic term, the school administration and physical plant would evaluate the state of the garden, and the student organization to determine if it should continue. If not, it may be removed at that time, and the lawn replaced.
A few community gardens have come and gone on the CalArts campus in the past. They were located away from the main building and eventually were neglected and removed. We believe that it is important that this garden be a part of the fabric of the campus and be located and in a visible location. We have selected what we think is the ideal location, a long narrow flat strip of lawn, against a blank south-facing wall that would be visible from the cafeteria balcony. The exact location is indicated on the attached map.
This is a curricular project run by a fine art studio with the support of the dean, Tom Lawson. The expenses for establishing the garden would include the removal of the lawn, capping irrigation lines, delivering compost, tilling the soil, and the installation of low 24" fencing material. These expenses would be covered by the School of Art and whatever support the college could offer. The students and those with plots would be responsible for acquiring plants and other materials for the garden.
The following is the process
we have set up for establishing the garden:
planning
- select location for garden (* see attached map for proposed location)
- survey and document the site
- determine program requirements
- communicate with school community to determine needs - desires
- develop garden layout and design
installation
- remove & cap existing irrigation lines and run a water line to a spigot
- remove existing lawn with a sod cutter and rototill existing dirt
- deliver, spread and till truckload of compost
- erect low fencing for animal protection
- establish composting units
plots
- identify others at CalArts to participate and assign plot locations
- develop individual schemes, approaches, research, concepts
- research and gather plant materials
- plot installations by the end of the term
long term
- start up student run community garden organization
- establish possible kitchen-cafe composting system
- set up a regular annual schedule of reviews, events and maintenance
The 23 students in the class
have been divided into teams that will take on the following responsibilities:
A. Garden Layout
Develop documents showing design, location and layout of garden, plots, irrigation,
compost units and paths.
B. Plot Planning
Research plants and nurseries, identify ideal plants for micro-climate, locate
plant resources, donations in kind.
C. Campus Communication
Create graphics, posters, web material, texts / make faculty, students &
staff aware of garden & engage involvement.
D. Garden Installation
Work with school, physical plant and trades for sod removal, tilling, compost
delivery, water lines, fencing, compost units.
E. CalArts Garden Club
Initiate new student run ecology organization to run garden / initiate and advocate
ecologically sound campus practices.
GOALS
The seminars and studios that I will be leading this year as visiting artist
are related in theme and content. We will be exploring the possible alternatives
to the conventional practice of the contemporary artist. This generally involves
the solitary creation of work in a generic non-imposing studio space and the
solitary experience of the completed work in an equally generic and non-imposing
gallery space. Perhaps this model is the most expedient way to market the work
of the artist. What are the other social, political and economic forces at work?
Through these classes we will look at the opportunities for the contemporary
artist to respond to the unique conditions that surround them, to directly interact
with the complex reality of their time and place and the people that are a part
of their lives. These classes will look in particular at the marginalized and
ephemeral art forms of gardens and events. Of particular interest will be issues
of public space, communal experience and organic processes.
This multidisciplinary collaborative production studio, The Valencia Gardenlab, will create a cultivated green space on the CalArts campus. This community garden will have plots available to any students, faculty and staff. As an alternative to the computer and technical labs, this space will provide students with a location to experiment with organic processes. The design will respond to the particular qualities of the climate, history, site and school community. The project may become a permanent feature of the campus that takes into account its future use, life and maintenance.
PROCESS
planning
- select location for garden
- survey and document the site
- determine program requirements
- communicate with school community to determine needs - desires
- develop garden layout and design
installation
- remove & cap existing irrigation lines and run a water line to a spigot
- remove existing lawn with a sod cutter and rototil existing dirt
- deliver, spread and till truckload of compost
- erect low fencing for animal protection
- establish composting units
plots
- identify others at CalArts to participate and assign plot locations
- develop individual schemes, approaches, research, concepts
- exhibit formal presentation of plans for plots, 11.11.05 - 11.18.05
- research and gather plant materials
- plot installations by the end of the term
long term
- start up student run community garden organization
- establish kitchen-cafe composting system
- set up a regular annual schedule of events and maintenance
GARDEN TEAMS
A. Garden Layout - develop documents showing design, location and layout of
garden, plots, irrigation, compost units, paths and other features
B. Plot Planning - research plants and nurseries / identify ideal plants for
micro-climate / locate plant resources, donations in kind, scavenge materials
C. Campus Communication - create graphics, flyers, posters, web material, texts
/ make faculty, students & staff aware of garden / engage their involvement
D. Garden Installation - coordinate with school, physical plant and trades for
sod removal, tilling, compost delivery, water lines, fencing, compost units
E. CalArts Garden Club - initiate new student run ecology organization to run
garden / initiate and advocate ecologically sound campus practices
RESEARCH PRESENTATION
SUBJECTS
artists:
Mel Chin / North Carolina
Newton & Helen Mayer Harrison
Nils Norman / London
Meg Webster / New York, NY
farming:
Joel Salatin / Shenandoah Valley, VA
Wes Jackson / The Land Institute / Salina, KS
gardens:
Biosphere / Biosphere II / Arizona
The Lost Gardens of Heligan / England
Monticello / Thomas Jefferson / Charlottesville, VA / 1768-1809
Ryoan-Ji Temple / Kyoto, Japan
Schreber Gardens / Germany
Victory Gardens / United States, 20's and 30's
Villa Lante / Bagnaia, Italy
Villandry / potager gardens / Joachim Carvallo / France / 1906
Woodland Cemetery / Gunnar Asplund / Stockholm, Sweden / 1935-40
landscape designers:
Julie Bargman, D.I.R.T. / Charlottesville, VA
James Corner, Field Operations / New York, NY
Lawrence Halprin
Dan Kiley
West 8 / Rotterdam
SCHEDULE
#01 - 09.15
in class: introductions / presentations by fritz / visit garden site / discuss
layout, design, etc. / assign garden teams / assign research topics
film: 'Edible Estates'
presentations: select presentation topics and assign dates
reading assigned: I 'Second Nature'
#02 - 09.23
in class: design charette to create concepts, schemes, approaches for individual
garden plots / analyze garden location, features, qualities, character
#03 - 09.30
in class: review products of charette / garden team give initial reports
video: 'Art : 21 art in the twenty-first century - Mel Chin'
reading discussed: I 'Second Nature'
reading assigned: II 'Ecology for Gardeners'
presentation: chad / zack / miles
#04 - 10.07
in class: garden team reports
reading discussed: II 'Ecology for Gardeners'
reading assigned: III 'Fragile Ecologies'
presentation: becca / elisa / nate
#05 - 10.14
in class: presentation by Yvonne Savio, director of the Los Angeles Master Gardening
Program
reading discussed: III 'Fragile Ecologies'
reading assigned: IV 'The Education of a Gardener'
presentation: noah / max / corrina
#06 - 10-21
in class: team reports / prepare for garden installation
reading discussed: IV 'The Education of a Gardener'
reading assigned: V 'The Shaker Herb and Garden Book'
presentation: john / cara
#07 - 10.28
in class: field trip: Huntington Gardens / Path to Freedom Gardens
reading discussed: V 'The Shaker Herb and Garden Book'
reading assigned: VI ' Invisible Gardens'
presentation: diana / markos
#08 - 11.04
in class: begin work on garden / cut sod / til soil / deliver compost
reading discussed: VI ' Invisible Gardens'
reading assigned: VII ' The Poetics of Gardens'
presentation: heather / courtney
#09 - 11.11
in class: installation of The Valencia Gardenlab exhibit
reading discussed: VII ' The Poetics of Gardens'
reading assigned: VIII ' The Meaning of Gardens'
presentation: nick / alex
#10 - 11.18
in class: dismount Valencia Gardenlab exhibit / work on garden
reading discussed: VIII ' The Meaning of Gardens'
reading assigned: IX 'The Language of Landscape'
presentation: victor / sam
#11 - 11.25
Thanksgiving holiday - no class
#12 - 12.02
in class: work on the gardens
reading discussed: X 'Men and Gardens'
presentation: enrique / anna
#13 - 12.09
in class: work on the gardens
presentation:madison / stephanie
#14 - 12.16
garden inauguration party - last class!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
***required textbook:
Brenzel, Kathleen Norris, editor / Sunset Western Garden Book / 2001
biography:
Rybczynski, Witold / A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmstead / 1999
art:
Matilsky, Barbara C. / Fragile Ecologies / 1992
Spaid, Sue / Ecovention / 2002
design:
Bradley-Hole, Christopoher / The Minimalist Garden / 1999
Church, Thomas D. / Gardens Are For People / 1995
Cooper, Guy / Paradise Transformed: the Private Garden for the 21st Century
/ 1996
Cooper, Guy / Gardens For the Future: Gestures Against the Wild / 2000
Moore, Charles / The Poetics of Gardens / 1993
essay:
Wes Jackson & William Vitek / Rooted in the Land / 1996
Wes Jackson / Becoming Native to this Place / 1994
Page, Russell / The Education of a Gardener / 1962
Pollan, Michael / Second Nature / 1991
Pollan, Michael / Botany of Desire / 2001
Mcphee, John / The Control of Nature / 1989
Walker, Peter / Invisible Gardens / 2002
guide:
Carroll, Steven B. and Steven D. Salt / Ecology for Gardeners / 2004
Fairbrother, Nan / Men and Gardens
Kirk, Donald R. / Wild Edible Plants of Western North America / 1970
Larkcom, Joy / Grow Your Own Vegetables / 2002
Leaf, Sue / Potato City: Nature, History, and Community in the Age of Sprawl
/ 2004
Mathias, Mildred / Flowering Plants in the Landscape / 1992
Perry, Bob / Landscape Plants for Western Regions / 1992
Tenenbaum, Frances, editor / Taylor's Master Guide to Gardening / 1994
Welsh, Pat / Southern California Gardening / 2000
history:
Adams, William Howard / Gardens Through History: Nature Perfected / 1991
Buchanan, Rita / The Shaker Herb and Garden Book / 1996
Conan, michel, editor / Perspectives on Garden History / 1999
Hunt, John Dixon / Gardens and the Picturesque / 1994
Hunt, John Dixon / The Italian Garden: Art Design & Culture / 1996
Hunt, John Dixon / Greater Perfections: the Practice of Garden Theory / 2000
Shepherd, John Chiene / Italian Gardens of the Renaissance / 1986
Solomon, Barbara Stauffacher / Green Architecture & the Agrarian Garden
/ 1988
Steenbergen, Clemens / Architecture and Landscape: Great European Gardens /
1996
Sweet, Muriel / Common Edible and Useful Plants of the West / 1976
Teyssot, Georges / The History of Garden Design / 1991
landscape:
Amidon, Jane / Radical Landscapes / 2001
Birksted, Jan / Relating Architecture to Landscape / 1999
Spirn, Anne Whiston / The Language of Landscape / 1998
monographs:
Eggener, Keith I. / Luis Barragan, Gardens of El Pedregal / 2001
Saunders, william / Daniel Urban Kiley: the Early Gardens the Gardens of Russell
Page / 1996
natives:
Francis, Mark / The California Landscape Garden / 1999
Lenz, Lee / California Native Trees and Shrubs / 1981
Lowry, Judith Larner / Gardening with a Wild Heart / 1999
regional:
Streatfield, David C. / California Gardens: Creating a New Eden / 1994
Burton, Pamela / Private Landscapes: Modernist Gardens in Southern California
/ 2002
Inaji, Toshiro / The Garden as Architecture: Japan, China And Korea / 1998
Listri, Massimo / Italian Parks and Gardens / 1996
Slauson, David / Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens / 1991
periodicals:
California Agriculture
The Gardener's Companion
Garden Design Magazine
THE READER
INDEX
I Pollan, Michael / Second Nature / Chapter 2: Nature Abhors a Garden / 1991
II Carroll, Steven B. and Steven D. Salt / Ecology for Gardeners / Chapter 4: Plants in the Environment / 2004
III Matilsky, Barbara C. / Fragile Ecologies / Chapter 1: Art and the Balance of Nature / 1992
IV Page, Russell / The Education of a Gardener / Chapter 1: In Search of Style / 1962
V Buchanan, Rita / The Shaker Herb and Garden Book / The Shaker Approach to Gardening / 1996
VI Walker, Peter / Invisible Gardens / Chapter 2: The Garden as Art / 2002
VII Moore, Charles / The Poetics of Gardens / The Genius of Place / 1993
VIII Francis, Mark / The Meaning of Gardens / The Garden as Idea, Place and Action
IX Spirn, Anne Whiston / The Language of Landscape / Chapter 1: Dwelling and the Tongue / 1998
X Fairbrother, Nan / Men and Gardens / Why men Have Gardened
some local nurseries:
sun valley:
theodore payne foundation / (818) 768-1802 / 10459 Tuxford Street / Sun Valley, CA / 91352-2116 / www.theodorepayne.org / best place for natives in southern california
pasadena:
perrsons / (626) 792-6073 / 3115 e sierra madre blvd / pasadena ca
burkhardt’s / (626) 796-4355 / orange grove blvd / pasadena, ca
the valley:
steven’s / (323) 877-9598 / 12000 riverside dr / valley village, ca
silverlake:
sunset nursery / (323) 661-1642 / 4368 sunset blvd / (at fountain-hyperion) / l.a., ca
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