10.8.24 ~ North Carolina Botanical Garden
36th Annual Sculpture in the Garden
For this year’s Walktober post I decided to walk through the outdoor sculpture exhibit at the botanical garden. I’ve been wary about returning to my favorite garden after enduring three episodes of seed tick bites after walks there this summer, but this time I sprayed permethrin on my shoes and pants, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.
There were 86 sculptures by 66 local artists to see and we found all of them. My favorites are included in this post. Enjoy!
For millennia, humankind has dug clay from the earth and used it to produce both functional and decorative ceramic pieces. This totem represents all aspects of that ageless process. The clay used was dug in North Carolina and fired in a raging ‘pit fire’ bonfire in Chatham County, NC. The colors are representative of the colors of North Carolina soil and the totem is a tribute to the ceramic heritage of our state. ~ Laura Harris
I voted for Urban Forager to win the People’s Choice Award. The winner will be announced after November 21. Something playful and endearing about a raccoon enjoying a fish sandwich!
Wow! What beautiful photos. Loved butterflies
Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed them.
Wonderful walk, Barbara — thank you for letting me accompany you (virtually, that is!) You started this post with asters, my birth month flower which I love, and then you continued the feast: my vote goes to the elephant, the owl, the raccoon, and the clay totem. Nope, I can’t pick a favorite — maybe they can all win?!!
What a pretty flower you have for your birthday month! I love my birth flower, carnations, too. Sometimes it’s just impossible to pick a favorite but this time the raccoon did it for me. And to think, only 14 of the 86 sculptures made it onto my short list. It will be interesting to see if any one of my 14 choices wins the People’s Choice Award.
Urban Forager is my favorite too. At first it gave me a smile until I saw the fish in the biscuit then I laughed! I love the humor. Let us know the winner.
You were brave to go, Barbara. I hope the seed ticks didn’t find you.
No seed tick bites this time — yay! (Although, I do think it’s past their season now.) I avoided the place for over six weeks. I’m glad you loved the raccoon. I love the playfulness of the forager finding sustenance in the human/urban world.
Great photos, cool place to visit. I like “Baba Yaga” by Jenny Marsh although I can’t aritculate why. Just calls to me.
I like how Baba Yaga in this one becomes melded with her famous hut that stands on chicken legs. Back in 2011 we saw another sculpture interpretation of the story.
https://www.ingebrita.net/2011/11/the-tale-of-vasilisa-the-brave/
Yowsa! That other story is dark. Those skulls on the posts do make an impression.
Quite an impression! One has to wonder who thinks up these fairy tales!
I do hope they aren’t based on real life. 😳
Me, too! 😳
Loved your picks, Barbara. I can’t decide between ‘Urban Forager’ and ‘American Bullfrog.’ 😉
Thank you, Eliza. Last year Mac McCusker’s (‘American Bullfrog’) ‘Octopus’ won 3rd place in the People’s Choice Awards. 🙂
https://www.ingebrita.net/2023/11/brown-thrasher/
Barbara, what a fun and cool (temperature-wise and sculpture-wise) trip to visit the North Carolina Botanical Garden. I hope the seed ticks stayed at bay for you – hopefully your spray helped and you came home only with memories from a nice outing and a lot of photos. I kept track of my favorites as I scrolled down and was leaning toward the frog and elephant (“Guardian Frog” and “Ellie in the Flower Garden”), then like you, I saw “Urban Forager” – what a clever idea for a sculpture! I also hope this entry wins!
No seed tick bites this time! Apparently they are most active from July-September, but possible any time of year that is above freezing. I will keep spraying the permethrin when I go, just in case.
Last year Anna Schroeder’s sculpture was “Forest Magic” which I loved just as much as this year’s “Urban Forager.”
https://www.ingebrita.net/2023/09/sculpture-in-the-garden/
It seems like we’re settling into life in our new hometown because I’m looking forward to seeing what this artist will create for next year’s show. 🙂
That’s good news- that spray works well for you Barbara! I went and looked at the link to last year’s post – it looks like I liked “Forest Magic” by Anna Schroeder too, plus an owl sculpture. Yes, you are a regular “local” now looking forward the local events, especially the ones in the cooler temps.
I decided to look Anna Schroeder up since we both like her work so much. She has a website and seems to be on Instagram, but not Facebook. Looks like she’s had a sculpture at the gardens every year since 2019. I enjoyed scrolling down through some pictures of her work. Lots of whimsical creatures in forest settings.
https://www.scalesandbark.com/creature-sculptures
Thanks for the link Barbara – I also like those whimsical creatures. Looks like she had another raccoon and she seems to like snails, all very original. I wonder what she will do for next year?
We’ll have to wait and see! No doubt we will like whatever she comes up with. 🐌
I’m sure we will – she is very creative with woodland creatures!
🙂
Wow! Great photos and fun images to capture!
Thank you, Robin! I’m happy you enjoyed them.
Hey Barbara– Thanks for this virtual visit. I think my favorite is Gift from the Ground. Have you walked by artist Mike Roig’s backyard sculpture garden Carrboro– 100 Hillsborough Rd.?
I had a feeling you would like “Gift from the Ground,” Susan. I was thinking of you and that rainy day we spent visiting those pottery shops in Seagrove. I haven’t seen the sculpture garden in Hillsborough, but I’d love to go see it with you.
I saw a few of these sculptures as they were being installed but need to go back for the entire show. Your photos are wonderful. /susie
Thank you, Susie! I hope you get a chance to go back and see all 86 sculptures soon. There’s quite a variety to enjoy.
Adore the green mosaic frog!!
Thank you, Donna!!
This is soooo cool! I thought about going to Meijer Gardens over in Grand Rapids for my Walktober, but in the end I went to Lake Huron. I haven’t written my Walktober up yet. Penny says I am a slackard. She may be right. Anyway, thank you for playing Walktober with us! And for visiting my …. er….Penny’s blog.
Thank you, Dawn! Well, you have to admit, Penny’s Walktober post was amazing so it must feel like a very tough act to follow. No wonder you’re procrastinating! Looking forward to seeing all the new posts this year, including yours. I miss seeing the ocean so it will be nice to see some pictures of Lake Huron.
I love all the photos of those beautiful sculptures! My favourite though, is Baba Yaga 😁. What a wonderful October walk! Thank you for sharing,
Deb
Thank you, Deb! It was interesting to see how the artist integrated the old grandmother with her hut, standing on those crazy chicken legs! 🙂
I’ve been getting caught up with bloggers on this sick day from work. I got redirected to your site again this morning from Dawn’s Walktober wrap up. Reading these delightful walk blogs is making me wish I had been on the blogs in October. It is a gloriously colorful month. This sculpture walk is enchanting! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Karma! I’m glad you enjoyed the walk. I didn’t have any traditional fall colors here to work with in early October —lol — so the sculptures were a nice distraction. Sorry to hear you’re not feeling so well. 🙁 Hope you’re doing much better now. 🙂