Defiant Gardens is an ongoing project working with artists, landscape historians, landscape architects, writers, curators and city planners to develop public art projects that inspire the community.
One of the participating artists in Defiant Gardens for Fargo-Moorhead, Mark Dion will return for a public lecture on his work in architecture. Known as a sculptor, Dion has designed numerous small buildings as part of his art practice, from a bird blind in San Diego to a greenhouse in the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle. During his visit, Dion also will work with students and faculty in NDSU Departments of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Visual Arts to develop more detailed designs for his proposed “Winter Fern Garden for Fargo,” his defiant garden idea. Working internationally on sculptural installations and site-specific projects, Dion has won numerous awards, including the 2008 Lucelia Artist Award for the production of a significant body of work and sustained, exceptional creativity.
Cosponsored by Plains Art Museum, NDSU Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, NDSU Department of Visual Arts, and MSUM Department of Art and Design.
Other News
Christine Baeumler has returned twice to Fargo for planning meetings to develop her defiant garden idea—to combine a pollinator garden with a play space for kids and families. Her goals are to defy harmful patterns in our natural and social worlds by fostering the health and sustainability of flowers and all flowering plants, of butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds and, at the same time, of children. More than ever before in human history, children are often distanced from the natural world and can develop from what has been called “nature-deficit disorder.” Baeumler is working with Plains Art Museum in partnership with Madison Elementary School and its neighborhood to develop a detailed design proposal. Her work has been supported by an Imagine Fund faculty grant from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, where she is associate professor of art.
Two artists who live in Brooklyn, Kevin Johnson and Rob Fischer, are teaming up on a Defiant Garden for the Moorhead Power Plant. Their project defies expectations about beauty being connected to an industrial site. In July, they were here for two days of meetings with community residents and City officials and to study the site. They will return during the last week in September to present their design proposal. Stay tuned to the PAM website for more details on those meetings. Their planning visits are supported by a generous grant from the Lake Region Arts Council, with contributions from the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
