Come Play in Our Garden / Passe-moi un sapin
Okay after the pink gophers, I do have to say this is my favorite!! Come Play in Our Garden is a truly interactive art installation in Olympic Plaza as part of the City of Calgary’s Parks 100 Anniversary celebration. As part of the celebration the summer of 2010 Olympic Plaza has been transformed into an ephemeral (temporary) gardens. These are popular features across the world, which enhance the park experience by transforming them into uniquely interactive space.
This installation is on loan to Calgary from Jarden de Metis and the International Garden Festival. Come Play in our Garden was originally presented at the International Garden Festival at Redford Gardens/Jarden de Metis during the summer of 2008 where 100 little trees were planted in a garden intertwined with a mature forest of balsam fir trees.
The Garden at Olympic Plaza is slightly smaller with 50 trees in varying sizes, located on either side of the pathway leading from 7 Avenue into the park. the 50 trees are a great addition to an otherwise underutilized section of Olympic Plaza. It is now a fun playground where visitors are called to plant their own tree. From my “playing experience” there seems to be 4 sizes of trees, from wee wee tiny to approx 5 feet. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but they look exactly like the tree-shaped air fresheners in cars…
This is a great lunchtime escape from the office, so come on down and grab a few people to rearrange, manipulate and make your own forest scape downtown. hint - my favorite so far is to have a race to see who can arrange the trees from smallest to largest the fastest!
