Kelly’s Living Garden

This project took place in 2019 at John B. Kelly school, a public elementary school about seven blocks from my studio, the home of Mindy Flexer Art School. I collaborated with the art teacher, music teacher, students, and parents to create Kelly’s Living Garden on their playground. This 12’ tall sculpture is also an outdoor pipe organ. It has two sections, pitched to pentatonic and octave scales. It was the brainchild of art teacher Dana Hoffman, who wanted to beautify her school’s outdoor space with an artwork that was also a musical instrument her students could play. Together, we wrote and received a grant from the Picasso Project to fund this artwork.

During the semester we worked on it, Kelly’s Living Garden became the focus of fourth grade interdisciplinary curriculum. In science class, students conducted experiments to determine how pipe length creates pitch. They also learned about flower anatomy, ecology, and gardens. In music class, they learned how vibration creates sound, and explored pentatonic and Western scales. In art class, they learned about artists who worked with flowers, such as Georgia O’Keeffe, and explored color, symmetry, and other elements of art. In addition, the vast amount of once-use plastic we collected and created the flowers from taught students a lot about plastic waste and the importance of recycling.

This project brought the school community together. Asking parents to help us involved them in the school and in the arts. Students’ families also had a chance to participate, through a Community Paint Day, a Community Garden Planting Day, and a Final Celebration that was also a field day for the whole school. At the same time we all learned about the environment and celebrated the natural world, all of us also learned how a big goal can be accomplished through teamwork, one small step at a time.

Kelly’s Living Garden was be a memorable process for all of us. We were delighted to create a final product that will beautify Kelly’s school environment and engage the community for many years to come.