Where Art and Science Meet

We are very fortunate at Naples Botanical Garden to have a group of supporters who truly understand what it will mean to our region to have a vibrant botanical garden. In many cases they have seen the impact of a botanical garden or arboretum in their community. While there are many models for botanical gardens, Royal Botanical Garden, near Toronto, Canada is pretty much a classic and certainly has many aspects, excepting climate of course, that we will develop as Naples Botanical Garden matures.

When I worked for Royal Botanical Garden (RBG) in Canada our slogan was “Where Art and Science Meet”, a great description of the role that a garden plays with a vigorous program of both performing and visual arts as well as an extensive representation of ephemeral art such as Ikebana, the Japanese art of floral design. For those of you who may not be familiar with Ikebana, it is like karate only with flowers. That isn’t exactly true – designers don’t compete with each other only with themselves – but Ikebana training is every bit as rigorous as karate. There are several Ikebana schools such as Ikenobo, Sugetsu and Ohara each with their own style criteria and master instructors. It is a sublime experience to watch an Ikebana master create beautiful works of art that may only last a few hours. Whoops – I got a little sidetracked by Ikebana – now to science.

The science program at RBG included everything from being the International Registrar for lilacs and crabapples to plant breeding to taxonomy and plant pathology. But the mission at RBG went well beyond art and science to include an extensive education program for people of all ages and abilities and management of large tracts of conservation land. RBG also had a vigorous horticultural therapy program. Horticultural therapy uses plant-based activities to improve quality of life for individuals with special needs. In addition to providing direct service to hospitals and long-term care facilities, we trained occupational therapists, activity therapists and recreation therapists in the use of plant-based activities as well as accessible garden design.

While I’m writing this in the past tense Royal Botanical Garden is alive and well. You can check it out at www.rbg.ca.

Many botanical gardens are also involved in urban greening projects. The gardens in New York, Chicago and Cleveland are among the leaders in this movement. These programs generally involve beautification projects, youth programs and creating school gardens in blighted areas. Some, like Cleveland Botanical Garden even have urban farms where inner city teens grow crops to take to market.

Over the next decade or two it is going to be interesting to watch how our garden, Naples Botanical Garden, develops as a place “Where Art and Science Meet”. Our partnership with FGCU and the shared use education and research building that we are building is going to be a good base for developing strong programming in those areas. Both sharing our building with Naples Garden Club, and our partnership with the Club in presenting The Naples Flower Show bode well for introducing our visitors to the ephemeral art of flower arranging. The performing and visual arts are very much a part of the future of our Bayshore neighborhood – already we have undertaken several events in partnership with Bayshore Arts Association.

I hope that you and your family have a safe and happy holiday season, Brian