Category Archives: public art

finding funky public art

boulevard garden, garden visits, natives, perrennials, projects, public art

Living Wall Garden

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Last week I flew into Alberta expecting their usual June entertainment.  Hot sunshine, rampant mosquitoes and evening lightning storms.  The big sky & open prairies create that kind of excitement.  I wasn’t expecting a touch of the tropics, but that’s what appeared before me at the Edmonton International Airport.

green living wall garden- Edmonton International Airport 1
photo by SVSeekins

Even though family was waiting for me at arrivals, I just had to stop & check it out.   Through the glass, I could see the wall descended a 2nd full story down into another part of the airport.  It was a massive living wall garden!

green living wall garden- Edmonton International Airport 2
photo by SVSeekins

The lounge to the left of the glass was a lovely spot for passengers to relax while waiting to board their planes.  It also allowed me the opportunity to walk up close to see if the plants were real.  They were.   🙂

This particular wall was created by Mike Weinmaster of Green Over Grey, a company that builds green walls across North America.  Apparently, Mike has a Masters of Science in Environmental Engineering & Sustainable Infrastructure.  It figures it would take some know-how for adding moist tropicals to a building’s wall without having it rot out & fall down in short order.  🙂

outdoor plant wall at the Surrey Library 2
photo by Barbara Hansen

As it turns out, these are the same folk who created the world’s largest outdoor living wall on the library in Surrey (Vancouver).  Some friends & I ran across that piece of public art shortly after it was planted in the fall of 2010.

It has all sorts of drought-tolerant native plants that typically thrive on rocky cliff sides with minimal soil.  I figured it was smart to add the new plantings in autumn after the stress of summer heat had passed.  The new little guys were probably much happier getting acclimatized during the fall wet.

I’ve wanted to make a pilgrimage back there, to see how the vertical garden is surviving. Imagine the 3D effect of a short mat of wild strawberries, interspersed with Oregon grape shrubs  & grasses growing out from the wall itself.  That’s depth & texture, eh?

Vertical Wall Garden inside the Atrium building in Victoria
Photo by Barbara Hansen

A couple of months later, those same friends from the Vancouver trip discovered a small version of a bio wall inside a little café in Victoria’s Atrium building.  When I inquired, it turned out Green Over Grey created it as well.  What wonderful botanical art!

Since then, I’ve been looking for a guest for our garden club to speak about creating a vertical garden.  More projects are showing up around town, but so far, folks are so busy building these plant walls, that I haven’t been able to get anyone to spare an evening for us.  I can understand.  These projects look pretty fun to me.  I wouldn’t want a distraction from my goal of completing one.  🙂

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© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013

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garden visits, public art

Street Library

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Clare Street Library
photo by SVSeekins

Got a book you no longer need?
Leave it here for others to read.
Consider it a neighbourly deed.

That’s the saying written around the door frame of the free book exchange on Clare Street near Oak Bay Avenue.

Clare Street pet water bowl
photo by SVSeekins

And if you’re out walking Spot, there’s a water bowl set out especially for him!  So, it’s okay to take time choosing a good book.  Mighty neighbourly, don’t you think?

Clare Street - creative front yard A
photo by SVSeekins

But wait!  There’s more!

A couple of residents are creative with their front yards, abandoning demanding lawns.   That’s my soft spot. I ogle one lovely garden for a bit, before the one across the street calls my name & I’m off.

Clare Street - creative front yard B
photo by SVSeekins

I zigzag back and forth across the street several times inside the same block. It’s good exercise.  Luckily I wasn’t run over.  Perhaps I have a guardian angel.  Or perhaps it’s really because of these thoughtful traffic calming features along this special street:

photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins

I have to smile.  These wooden cut outs have a bottom piece that slips into the top of the sign post.  Voilà!  Instant Pet Crossing signs.  These could be made for any street.  How about that!

Even though my street is only a block long, and a dead-end, it’s surprising how fast some vehicles travel on it.  Perhaps some of these s signs would do well around here.  How would they go over on your street?  Would there be smiles?

I’ve often noticed that the bigger the city, the less folks in public make eye contact.   Understandably, it’s a way to have privacy even when surrounded by crowds but I’m glad to see that in this city, there’s enough space for some small town friendliness.

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© copyright 2013 SVSeekins

P.S.  check these other street libraries out:

P.SS. I hear there’s a similar street on the mainland::

public art

Is It Art?

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solar powered compactor 1
photo by Barbara Hansen

Is garbage art?  Well, I reckon that even if the garbage itself isn’t, at least the garbage container can be.  We ran across this example on the Westsong Walkway the other day.

Kinda pretty, isn’t it?

solar powered compactor 1
photo by Barbara Hansen

It’s also kinda useful.  It’s a handy place to store garbage – and apparently it will hold a good deal of it.  It’s not only a container – it’s a compactor (and a solar-powered one at that!)

Esquimalt has used the ‘Big Belly’ compactors since 2007.  Considering that the compactor can contain 5 to 10 times the load of a regular trash can, it sure makes for a more tidy park – and for a decent savings in garbage collection.

It’s no wonder we’re starting to see more of these machines around.  I especially look forward to seeing more artistic ones.

Here’s a thought – where have you seen one?  was it pretty, too?  🙂

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© copyright 2013 SVSeekins