Program+and+Organization

PROGRAM AND ORGANIZATION
The Nature Based Art Program at the South Carolina Botanical Gardens is one of the finest exhibitions of nature art in the world. It is home to many famous pieces of art by some of the pioneers of the nature based art field. Though the Botanical Gardens is a well known attraction, the marvelous sculptures that inhabit the gardens are relatively unknown. People do not know about the program because it does not get much publicity outside of the art world. For such a grand collection, many artists feel the Natured Based Art collection at the gardens deserves more recognition and more publicity. Though the gardens do not house the most nature based sculptures, the focus is on the quality of the art, which is unmatched by any other program.

Stated before, the Nature Based Art Program is part of the South Carolina Botanical Gardens, the official state garden. The gardens its self is over three hundred acres and contains fifteen nature based sculptures that are located across the entire garden. Many of the sculptures were designed to not be noticed but rather to look like part of the natural setting of the garden. Although many of the artists are foreign to Clemson, they have been kind enough to let the gardens be home to their magnificent creations. Every sculpture is site specific, meaning that it was built exactly for the spot where it stands. This program is one of the longest standing nature art programs, beginning in 1995 and continuing this very day. One major aspect that all the artists want to achieve with their art here is for the audience to gather their own opinions and interpretations. Unlike most art which has a desired meaning, many of the artists who collaborated on this project leave their work open for interpretation to the people viewing it.

The Botanical Gardens have been given federal and state grants to help with the construction and up keep of the program. With the economy hurting everyone, funding has been cut tremendously but progress is still being made to achieve the recognition the program deserves. Students from different majors have come together to help the program, helping in areas such as construction, planning, and awareness. Without these student, many of the goals of this program would not have been accomplished.

Quotes about the Program:

“A sculpture trail consists of works planned to interpret each site and having a single approach route which is carefully managed to enhance each work. A trail is most effective in a diverse landscape. …. Since conventional nature trails and walks were only of limited success it was decided to commission a sculpture trail. This would provide an interpretation of the forest through the eyes of artists rather than foresters.”-Martin Orrom

LINKS and Documents
[|PROGRAM AND ORGANIZATION]