Pensacola’s From the Ground Up community garden is getting something of a make-over including the addition of a one-of-kind sculpture created by students at the University of West Florida.
About a dozen art students designed, built and assembled the 10-foot-tall steel and acrylic sculpture in the middle of the community garden. They welded 3-foot geometric cube pieces together and installed it on a concrete base. Now the original art piece is on display for garden visitors and can easily be seen by passers-by or people enjoying the skate park next door.
Carrie Fonder, associate professor of art at UWF, said the students designed the piece with input from Elizabeth Eubanks, the steward of the garden. They then collaborated to create a unique work of art that would represent the ideals of the community garden and used their creative skills, including welding, to bring it to life.
“It's a stack of cubes that gets smaller as it goes up and then the sides of the cubes have colored acrylic sheet in them that have been cut into different shapes,” explained Fonder. “The students were thinking about cycles, and so they represent the sun, the moon and growth. They've moved the colors from the bottom to the top, moving from warm colors to cool colors as the sculpture goes up into the sky.”
Fine art major Erin Hassell was one of the students in the class who worked on the project. She said it was a great experience learning not only how to work with a patron but together as a group.
“There's a lot of really cool artwork already in the garden so it's pretty cool to have something here that'll be up for a while,” said Hassell. “That was something that I got to be a part of, so that's pretty cool to be able to see this.”
Eubanks said the addition is one of many recent improvements to the community garden, which sits under Interstate 110 next to the Blake Doyle Skatepark . Local artists recently volunteered to paint shipping containers that serve as storage and office space for the garden. From top to bottom, they covered the containers in murals that represented not only the garden but the skaters nearby.
Eubanks said the garden has also been redesigned with a layout that is more like a labyrinth. The new design came about with the help of HDR Inc., an engineering company that used a grant to replace rotten garden beds and rework the flow of the community garden.
From the Ground Up also has a new wrought iron gate made with donated material and a new greenhouse, courtesy of Innisfree Hotels, which operates the garden as part of its corporate social responsibility program.
The new sculpture is one of the last art pieces Eubanks said they plan to include for now since so much has already been done.
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“I just feel like we're turning into an art, slash, food garden,” said Eubanks, who is excited about the changes. “It’s just very sensory oriented and aesthetically pleasing, as well as growing food.”
If you’d like to see all the new artwork and design changes, you’re invited to visit. From the Ground Up is hosting an official unveiling of the sculpture on Saturday, May 11, with a series of events throughout the day including a free market where folks are welcome to bring and take items like games, music, clothes, books, and furniture, plants and groceries. There will also be a free concert that night.
It’s all part of Pensacola’s Night on the Tracks event on May 11, which showcases a series of artistic events and attractions at different businesses and venues in the immediate area. They will also offer exhibitions by local artists including immersive glo art and live art, as well as live music, and food. You can find more details on From the Ground Up’s social media sites.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF art students create one-of-kind sculpture for From the Ground Up community garden
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