Design Week starts and the students spend the day enjoying the landscape. Dreaming what could come to be….groups gather, discuss, sketch, collect, learn about the garden – it’s current condition and future plans. The students have been working all week, rain or shine….
LSU Design Week – A tradition of the Landscape Architecture School – started today. The 2012 event marks the first venture to support an interdisciplinary experience by including students from the School of Architecture. About 150 students and 15 faculty advisors in total will spend the week working on 13 different installations to be built on the grounds of the Hilltop Arboretum in Baton Rouge.
I have the honor of developing the project scope and directing the progress over the next 5 days. Woo hoo! The week is an exciting endeavor for everyone involved. Today we met out at the Arboretum after a formal introduction on campus, and students explored and contemplated the site where their group will design and build an installation. By Friday 13 fantastic pieces of environmental art will grace Hilltop.
For those of you who have taken Remote Studio this ambitious project takes the concept of making vessels to another realm.
Stay tuned……for the ideas, the work and the ART !
Rushing, rushing to deliver all the text and photos for the new Artemis Institute website…clouds are rolling in, tomorrow I begin teaching at LSU, so much to do , best to ride the bike now before the rain, before the night , before tomorrow , before another day goes by.
Baton Rouge continues to be full of surprises. They do things differently down here, for sure. These innovative planting vessels got a smile out of me, though.
Noel, we’re not in Montana anymore!
We arrived to Baton Rouge two days ago as the last light was leaving the sky. It was only about an hour before that when speaking to a local that I realized one of the many differences between Louisiana and Montana. Instead of simply arriving and requesting that the power be transferred to my name, I needed to call ahead and have the power and water turned on in the apartment. Ha!!
Because of this oversight I have been “camping out” in a hotel room, while unpacking during the day. I only realized tonight that I could have camped out in the apartment because, because while it is dark early outside, it is not dark outside on my street! Another sign that I am not in Montana. The street lights, porch lights, and general town light is so bright, my apartment is bright even in the night! I may need to invest in an eye mask to sleep.
Today I took my first walk with Noel around the neighborhood. I am living in
Spanish Town, the oldest neighborhood in Baton Rouge. As far as I can tell, Spanish Town is the only part of BR with a bohemian feel. And I don’t mean “Boho” – but the real deal. The neighborhood hosts the largest Mardis Gras parade in BR. Which means they must be gearing up for the coming festivities. Beads from last year still hang from trees and wires, and can even be found on the ground.
There is a unique feature to the neighborhood, too. Flamingos are everywhere. Lawn art and plywood cut outs. Stained glass windows and murals. All types and sizes. I am sure I am missing a significant cultural reference….I need to go meet my neighbors. There was even a flamingo waiting for me in my apartment when I arrived.
The tiny neighborhood of Spanish Town borders the downtown. So while the majority of BR is one big expanding suburban mega-complex, I can step off my porch and pass the capital, museum, and arrive at the Mississippi River in about 5 minutes.
Noel is making friends with everyone she comes in contact with. While running errands today we stopped at a red-light and idled next to a public transit bus. She was eye-to-eye with the bus driver, who looked at her and smiled. Windows rolled down between the vehicles and there were greetings and exclamations from everyone on that bus!
between here and there 