{"id":95516,"date":"2020-06-21T16:05:42","date_gmt":"2020-06-21T20:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=95516"},"modified":"2020-06-21T16:05:42","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T20:05:42","slug":"visit-to-sculptura-botanica-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=95516","title":{"rendered":"visit to Sculptura Botanica part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul><li><strong>what<\/strong>: in-situ installation showcasing botanical-themed ceramic work of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.secondnaturegardendesign.com\/\">Dustin Gimbel<\/a><\/li><li><strong>where<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/thesherman.org\/\">Sherman Library &amp; Gardens<\/a><\/li><li><strong>when<\/strong>: May 15 through September 15, 2020<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/thesherman.org\/event\/lunch-and-lecture-sculptura-botanica-with-dustin-gimbel\/\"><strong>lunch and lecture<\/strong><\/a>: June 26, 2020, 11:30 a.m. and tour of the exhibit by Dustin Gimbel<\/li><li><strong>other venues<\/strong>: Dustin will be exhibiting his work in a group show at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruthbancroftgarden.org\/sculpture-show-2020\/\">Ruth Bancroft Garden <\/a>Friday in Walnut Creek, California, July 17, 2020<\/li><li>read Sculptura Botanica part 1 <a href=\"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=95419\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8xaeF\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968409381_400d29c593_z.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0759\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Dustin Gimbel&#8217;s Blue <a href=\"http:\/\/www.secondnaturegardendesign.com\/shop\/\">Sage Towers<\/a> with some of my favorite planting at the Sherman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Walking, driving, biking all over town, I probably study plants more than people.  And it&#8217;s not always pretty.   In fact, it rarely is.  Plants are treated as the green wallpaper background to a city, awkwardly squeezed into the leftover urban spaces after capitalism gets the first pass at choice real estate.  It can be dismaying to witness their rough, thoughtless treatment, but there&#8217;s some small satisfaction in knowing that gardens are where the payback happens, where plants&#8217; central importance is acknowledged.  Gardens are where plants get lifted out of the background and placed center stage, where they&#8217;re amassed in new ways to make us gasp, as if to show what just a little clever, sympathetic cooperation between people and the natural world can do.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8uRcp\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49967958473_1c3c50bb86_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0777\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>I was explaining to Marty this morning how every few years an &#8220;It&#8221; plant comes along, and Senecio candicans &#8216;Angel Wings&#8217; (left and right foreground) is the &#8220;It&#8221; plant of the moment.  In typical TMI mode, I then went on to discuss the huge senecio tribe in general, how many times and in what exposures I&#8217;ve tried and failed with this senecio before &#8212; all prompted by his simple observation, &#8220;Hey, you planted your new plants.&#8221;  Whether he likes it or not, he&#8217;s my horticultural buddy during lockdown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And apart from their mission of collecting and preserving plants, isn&#8217;t a botanical garden&#8217;s unspoken message that if we pay a little attention to plants and the life they support, watch how they grow, bloom, and die, extraordinary things can happen? For a lot of us rabid plant fiends, that is enough. Public gardens, however, dealing with a more generalized customer, often add art into the mix to keep things interesting for visitors. Paradoxically, inserting art into public gardens often has the unintended consequence (for me) of relegating plants into the background again, as mere pleasant backdrop for the art work. I found the Sculptura Botanica exhibit currently at the Sherman Library and Gardens the rare exception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8xs6B\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968466101_5475942ee1_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0773\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The delphiniums will last as long as the spring\/early summer stays cool.  More enduring is the feathery gray shrub, the South African Gomphostigma virgatum.  Summer annuals will no doubt be slipped in as the delphiniums fade.  White liatris will take the summer heat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The strength of the exhibit derives from the knowing dialogue between Dustin&#8217;s ceramics, which are inspired by a deep understanding of the structure and wonder of plants, his keen spatial sense as a garden designer, and the horticultural expertise of the staff at the Sherman. I thought it was a stunning example of how to integrate art into a public garden without giving the sense that the garden has been temporarily taken over as a display case. The ceramics and the plantings seamlessly work as a hand-in-glove collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8xjMy\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968441506_e9e8542b60_z.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0767\" width=\"640\" height=\"494\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Blue and Black Sage Towers with Whorled Cake Flower Towers.  I love how the ceramic totems rise emphatically from the low-scaled, textural plantings, with columns of blooms adding to the vertical energy, creating a satisfying tug between the two planes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8xorY\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968453826_b331a1d6e8_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0770\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Whorled Cake Flowers Towers with nude<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8uCgu\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49967914978_af25aeddf0_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0762\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>The garden nymph is exceedingly proud of her pond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8uD1q\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49967917468_60e21c2503_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0765\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Blue lotus are also by Dustin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8xbt4\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968413521_fff06d0a9b_z.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0760\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8uV4T\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49967971493_273abff2ca_z.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0785\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>In the lathe houses and conservatory, it was sometimes hard to discern what was real and what was ceramic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8xvN6\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968478541_2fffc821a6_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0781\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption> (the hanging banana flower is ceramic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8xwNx\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968481931_ee5e900637_z.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0784\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Pretty sure it&#8217;s all potted begonias here<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8xxHi\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968484991_453d9f051b_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0787\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>steps leading into the succulent garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2j8yVn4\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49968752937_737b61c15d_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0788\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Last photo.  The ceramics are interspersed throughout the entire garden.  In the succulent garden there&#8217;s an incredible cobalt blue agave flower totem but the camera battery had run out.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Note:  Everyone has to do their own risk analysis about visiting public places during these challenging times, and I can only offer my own risk calculations in that 1) I&#8217;m in the target age group for most adverse effects 2) recently post-surgery 3) and carrying the blood type that seems to have more adverse consequences too (negative).   Everything I&#8217;ve read points to outdoor spaces as holding the least risk, and that has been guiding my behavior these past few months.    (\u201c<em>We have very little evidence of outdoor transmission. It\u2019s not zero \u2014 there are definitely cases reported \u2014 but it\u2019s much, much lower than inside<\/em>,\u201d says Gretchen Snoeyenbos Newman, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Washington.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/what-to-know-about-the-coronavirus-and-summertime-activities\/2020\/06\/19\/6a4417c6-ae74-11ea-8f56-63f38c990077_story.html\">WaPo 6\/20\/20<\/a>.)  I visited on a Tuesday morning, and keeping a healthy distance from other visitors was no problem at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-flickr wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2je3WWL\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/50030803872_d3506b879c_z.jpg\" alt=\"sherman-interactive-map-no-list\" width=\"640\" height=\"537\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And with the increasing realization that, like it or not, all the world is now a garden in a &#8220;post-wild&#8221; sense, with our species&#8217; influence felt around the globe, horticulturalists and botanists are the heroes we need.  Referring to the map above, much applause is given to the following horticultural talent:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Carol Younger, Senior Horticulturist: Tea Garden, Sun Garden, Central Garden<\/li><li>Joel Friesen, Horticulturist: Tropical Conservatory, Specimen Shade House<\/li><li>Dawn Mones, Horticulturist: Tea Garden, Sun Garden, Central Garden<\/li><li>Tim Chadd,\u00a0 Horticulturist: Formal Garden, Sensory Garden<\/li><li>Darla Miller, Orchid Curator: Orchid Collection, Tropical Conservatory<\/li><li>Erin Aguiar, Horticulture Manager: Perennial\u00a0Beds, Mediterranean Climates Garden<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>what: in-situ installation showcasing botanical-themed ceramic work of Dustin Gimbel where: Sherman Library &amp; Gardens when: May 15 through September 15, 2020 lunch and lecture: June 26, 2020, 11:30 a.m. and tour of the exhibit by Dustin Gimbel other venues: &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=95516\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[2628,33,850,112,4807],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-oQA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95516"}],"version-history":[{"count":71,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95651,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95516\/revisions\/95651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}