“Our Communities at the Public Garden’s Edge”

Artist-In-Residence Doug Jones and IVCG Director Dan Camenga at the unveiling of the community-created original artwork: “Our Communities at the Public Garden’s Edge”.

On view in the Silver Education Center lobby is a new co-created artwork titled “Our Communities at the Public Garden’s Edge.” The project began late last year and included dozens of people of different backgrounds, skills, and experience,—seniors, volunteers, and local Girl Scouts. This project was part of Doug Jones’ work as Artist in Residence at the Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers of Greater New Haven, and with support from NXTHVN, and the CT Gardening Collaborative.

The exhibit, which includes the final work and documentation photography, will be on view at the Bartlett until the end of the year. We are happy to welcome this piece to the Bartlett and thrilled to share it with our visitors!

Artist's Statement

Thank you to God, my family, the co-creators who helped paint this work, Interfaith Volunteers and Care Givers of Greater New Haven, NXTHVN, and the rest of our exceptional team of community partners. This PIXEL Project brought together people that represent all backgrounds, skill and experience levels, ages, and primary languages. As Mrs. Clarke explains, “[This PIXEL Project] wasn’t something that left anybody out.”

Community members decided that we would paint a landscape that would join together gardens in conversation with the more natural world. I titled this work “Our Communities at the Public Garden’s Edge” to reflect this. An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly flutters in the foreground. We painted a Japanese red maple to symbolize the garden. Garden spaces often include native plants like the North American red maple (Acer rubrum) and the Charter Oak (Quercus alba), and plants found in other countries like the Japanese red maple (Acer palmatum). The Japanese red maple in this painting symbolizes the diverse plants that nurseries throughout New England source from around the world to install in garden spaces throughout Connecticut. The maple’s big red leaves stand out against the bright blue sky like flowers do.

Isolation caused by mobility challenges make many spaces inaccessible to seniors. Cultivating Connections, a program of the CT Garden Collaborative, helps us most because it gets us out of our isolation and it puts us in contact with each other. At the March 10 Creation Session at NXTHVN, 57 community members helped to paint this work. Five more community members helped paint this work from home. We created this artwork together, step-by-step, with a shared vision to develop a community that is intentionally inclusive.

This painting is exceptional because it is painted by the same community that it serves. As Jennifer Baerman explains, “Being part of something like this, [Cultivating Connections] community, gives life more meaning.” As Rose Grenfell explains, “When people get older, like me, there are lots of comments. You hear others generalize our experience and situation. In truth, they cannot fully understand. I’ve faced poverty. I’ve faced limitations of food. I’ve faced challenges getting to my doctors. And I’ve faced isolation. But I still love nature and people. To have the opportunity to realize this, you are able to cherish experiences. This goes beyond the function of money. It addresses the value of living.” As Judith Hayward explains, this project is a practice in Tikkun Olam. Each person painted at least part of a Dot Sheet.

This painting is primarily made of partially painted Dot Sheets that I cut out and collaged/joined together. In this sense, these fragments work for us similar to kintsugi, our time together symbolized by the preciousness of gold. This work truly represents everyone who came together with us.

-Doug Jones

May 20, 2023