Dozens of Westporters of all ages flocked to the Community Gardens yesterday.
Gardeners, artists and art-lovers alike celebrated the Gardens’ 20th anniversary with an “Art in the Gardens” event.
In collaboration with the Artists Collective of Westport, they created art in the 100-plot garden itself, and the adjoining Long Lots Preserve.
Community Gardens director Lou Weinberg calls it “a smashing success. People seeing this for the first time really get that ‘Oh, wow!’ reaction.
“It’s a pleasure to show them what we’ve created here. We are proud to share these 2 fabric-of-the-community, environmental and educational assets.”
Next up: a Westport Community Gardens pop-up (August 27, 1 p.m.).
(All photos/Lou Weinberg)
Community Gardens members Pam Barkentin and Karen LaCosta coordinated the event, with help from Miggs Burroughs of the Westport Artists Collective.
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This was a lovely, unique and peaceful way to spend the day. The now 20-year-old community garden and Long Lots Preserve were at their best with mature as well as new and annual plantings. Local artists from the Artists Collective joined the community in enjoying the natural beauty and the garden. Please help save the garden! Click here for more information. https://www.flowcode.com/page/westportcommunitygardens?utm_term=Byjv0oPJR#fid=Byjv0oPJR&c=6a45e8a0-2d31-4b80-ac9a-4bbba536e183-SSE:1688914632
Another great example of what a tremendous town asset and community.gathering place the westport community garden has become.
Richard and I enjoyed being with members of the community garden and the Collective yesterday. This community asset should be preserved and celebrated not endangered. Surely those who will be making decisions about it’s future can find an alternative site so that can be accomplished.
Loved this. If you haven’t been to the garden see the following YouTube link to take a virtual tour. Enjoy…https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lGceWZ_1Os0&t=117s&pp=ygUmd2VzdHBvcnQgY29tbXVuaXR5IGdhcmRlbnMgd2VzdHBvcnQgY3Q%3D
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lGceWZ_1Os0&t=117s&pp=ygUmd2VzdHBvcnQgY29tbXVuaXR5IGdhcmRlbnMgd2VzdHBvcnQgY3Q%3D
It was a great event! I had such a fun time painting sunflowers in the company of several monarch butterflies and a whole family of hummingbirds. I really enjoyed meeting both artists and gardeners in this beautiful place. It’s easy to see how a garden like this can inspire the inner artist in anyone – the kids especially were all smiles while recreating the colorful zinnias on paper! The kids and students in the area are so lucky to have such a special place so close to them.
I was so sorry to have missed this event! How often do you get a chance to create art in a lovely place surrounded by Mother Nature’s art? The Community Gardens are truly a special place in Westport and one of the reasons I decided not to move away when I was considering it. After 20 years of hard work (and already being relocated several times), the idea that it could be moved again or demolished is insane (and frankly, moving it is really the same thing, as all of our hard work bringing in organic soil and/or working with soil for over 6 years so it became organic is no small detail! How can you move what is there now?)
The Community Gardens provide a stress-free environment for young and old alike, for finding peace and quiet but having a community to connect with right at your fingertips! Many Westporters who don’t have their own lawns or gardens (those in condos, apartments, retirement places) are grateful to have such a space, as are folks like me, who don’t have enough sun to grow sun-loving plants! Other towns occasionally have a community garden, often with fewer aspects that make it unique, such as the bluebird house, pollinator pathway, adjoining recently planted native plant preserve, or the additional fun community features that provide places for us to get to know one another, such as the Bocce court or the central gathering area, complete with beautiful grape arbor! However, it is doubtful that other towns have had to continually move their beloved community gardens… Please help us to keep ours by signing this petition! https://www.flowcode.com/page/westportcommunitygardens
Thanks for your comment, Elisabeth. I signed the petition and asked David to do so also.
Thank you to all the artists and guests who created beautiful art in the Garden! I hope you inspire many to slow down and look around at the beauty that is nearby and appreciate nature in all its splendor – its so good for the soul!! Your art is stunning!!
The Community Gardens are a statement about Westport values.
As an individual Board of Education member I am highly supportive of a new Long Lots School. I feel strongly that Westport needs a new school, not a refurbished building. I am excited that we seem to be moving in that direction.
I think it is highly possible to achieve this outcome WITHOUT the need to relocate the Westport Community Gardens.
I would not support any proposal that required the Community Gardens to be relocated and would be very vocal about any proposal that did.
Let’s build a NEW school and PROTECT the Community Gardens. Both are 100% possible.
Sorry to be blunt – but I’’m not really a sitting on the fence type of person.
It’s about Westport values.
I am happy to be outspoken about this as a sitting Board of Education member.
Thank you Robert – I agree 100 percent! If it comes down to a baseball field I’m quite confident we can find another place for it that doesn’t jeopardize such a wonderful asset for our town. Thank you for your support of the gardens and preserve.
Thank you, Dan, for continuing to share these wonderful stories that take place at the Westport Community Gardens! Visiting the Gardens and Preserve are the best way to understand their unique value to our town. For those who haven’t had a chance to go in person, this video tour is a great peek at this special site:
Art in the Garden was all about sharing this beautiful spot. We artists were welcomed, guided to a shady spot with a picnic table, offered help, a cookie, even a port a pottie.
The Preserve section is protected by double fencing for its native trees and shrubs. I painted for 3 hours and left with a beautiful thank you bouquet of zinnias.
Thank you for supporting the Community Gardens and Long Lots Preserve, Robert.
We all support Westport having a first-class school system, but destruction of this Westport treasure shouldn’t be on the table!
Thanks for taking a public stand on an issue. So rare to see elected officials in Westport let people know where they stand on positions. They too frequently hide behind legalese and never speak for themselves. So thank you.
These pictures capture the essence of this special sanctuary – the Westport Community Gardens. This isn’t just a sanctuary for people, but birds, butterflies and other wildlife have come to depend on it for sustenance. Congratulations to all those who had the foresight to nurture this land and create this little piece of paradise. Let’s help preserve this town treasure.
During the warm weather months, we stop by our plot at the Community Garden nearly every afternoon, to weed or water or simply to enjoy being surrounded by rows of towering sunflowers, fields of daisies and plot after plot of ripening tomatoes. We were delighted to see members of the Artists’ Collective there yesterday, painting from nature and celebrating the Garden’s 20th anniversary with us. The Garden truly is one of Westport’s treasures. Destroying it to create another children’s sports field or to expand the parking lot would – in our view – be a terrible misallocation of scarce natural resources.
Lovely time spent Saturday, painting and enjoying the quiet beauty. The Community Gardens are a treasure.