A minimalist styled sculpture garden at the Belize Art Centre on the campus of St. John’s College, Belize City was formally declared opened on Friday May 8th, 2009.
A sculpture garden is a democratic way of presenting art, for it reaches out and invites the public to engage in works of beauty, provocation and inspiration. The art is not hidden in a gallery, or on a remote website, it is accessible for all to experience.
For the past three weeks Damian Perdomo, art lecturer motivated his creative projects students to become dependent on each other. The construction of the sculpture garden was a team effort. I find this kind of communal action critical in education for it focuses the big picture to become centralized. Also it leads the process of construction toward something that will be of benefit for the common good not just for today or next year, but hopefully for decades to come.
At the brief opening ceremony opening the sculpture garden Mrs. Michele Perdomo the matriarch of the Art Program at SJC delivered an opening prayer followed by Kirkland Smith, director of the Art Centre who welcomed the gathering of about fifty including High School and Junior College Students, faculty, artists and guests. Damian Perdomo gave brief remarks about the process of creating the sculpture garden in the presence of his beaming students. Various media were there to document the special moment.
The sculpture garden will serve three main purposes:
- To enhance public understanding and appreciation of art through display and presentation of sculptural works
- To be a focal point and catalyst for study, installation and conservation of public sculpture
- To establish an elegant setting in unity with the rest of the SJC campus where students, faculty, staff and others can experience the vision and intention of artists
The main materials of the sculpture garden include boulders and stones from Gracie Rock quarry, Cabbage Kalanchoe, Brazilian Snow and Sansevieria plants from Greenpatch nursery and sculptures by students of the Belize Art centre. Support for the sculpture garden was provided by the Image Factory Art Foundation.
The plan for the garden is for sculptures to be permanently installed on an annual basis and for temporary sculpture exhibits to be held during the school year. The sculpture garden is a new space where the greater school community and the Belizean society can visit and reflect on the ideas of a new generation of citizens who came together for a brief time to experiment under the umbrella of education to produce a beautiful plot of dedication and unity.
