By David F. Rooney
The grotty-looking wasteland beside the Visual Arts Centre was swiftly transformed into a living, breathing space of potential beauty by about scores of volunteers who turned out last week to build the carefully designed garden spaces and then to fill them with 500 plants.
First there were members of the Initial Attack crew who came out to spread, gravel, top soil and mulch dung the week and then, on Saturday, June 13, about 40 people who volunteered their time for the mass planting.
“Many of these volunteers are not artists or even members of the society,” said Jackie Pendergast, The Centre’s executive director. “That they want to contribute to our efforts is marvellous.”
The Centre’s building, once the old RCMP detachment, was repainted by volunteers from the Rotary Club a couple of weeks ago and a bronze sculpture of leaves whirling in a breeze has been commissioned from sculptor John McInnes. It will be installed in October.
It is very gratifying to see the number of people who came out to help ensure that our Visual Arts Centre remains as beautiful as the art it exhibits. Now if only we can get a large number of members out for the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, June 17, at 7 pm.
“We are planning a short AGM and Volunteer Appreciation Evening with a presentation by the Chair of the Board, Ken Talbot and myself highlighting the many achievements of the past year, the required business items and then we’ll kick back and enjoy some delicious desserts from The Modern with either wine, tea or coffee,” Jackie said in an e-mail to society members on Saturday.
“You can also wander through the gardens and take in the new exhibitions. I do hope you will be able to join us. It won’t be boring and you won’t be press ganged into being on the Board! The more members we have at our AGM the better it is for funding applications.
“Thank you to all the volunteers who came out today to plant the gardens. It looks fantastic.”
Here area few photos from the mass planting:
