Community Garden with the Periwinkle Foundation
The Periwinkle Arts In Medicine program at Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers provides creative activities that give children and others affected by pediatric cancer and blood disorders an outlet for “self-expression, empowerment and healing through the arts.” Each year, through its Making a Mark program, the foundation shares the work of these young artists with the public.
In 2019, 300 works of art were displayed at Texas Children’s Hospital and then around Houston. Alongside these works hung a collaborative fabric flower garden which I co-created as that year’s featured artist, together with the children, their families and numerous volunteers.
The raw materials for the project were procured at local thrift shops. There, I selected materials by color and texture, hanging a rainbow of discarded clothing from the handle of my cart. In my studio, with the help of friends, each article of clothing was disassembled. We cut along each seam, leaving a pile of flat rectangles. These rectangles were then cut with a rotary cutter like spaghetti with a knife, leaving a pile of colorful strips from which the children would make the fabric flowers.
Over a period of months, for a total of eight session, I would arrive at the Texas Children’s Hospital with my hard-won bins of fabric noodles. I would meet the coordinators, Carol and Erin, who would introduce me to a lovely stream of humans who volunteered their time with the Periwinkle Foundation. For three wonderful hours, we would create pom-pom flowers from the fabric strips, teaching the volunteers and in turn the kids. Some were shy at first, some were enthusiastic from the beginning. Some made one flower. Others made many. The flowers were created by wrapping strips of fabric around a template, with colors and textures selected by the maker. Once each flower was completed, we invited its creator to add it to the garden.
Working with the young artists who contributed to our garden was a rewarding experience. They and their families are confronting difficulties that I cannot begin to understand from my own experience. Serving as an instructor and working with groups of kids, the sessions did not focus on the greater challenges that these families are facing. Even though our work was punctuated by the presence of medical devices and the presence of kind nurses, from my perspective, the act of creating a fabric flower seemed to offer a welcome challenge on a smaller scale. The Periwinkle Foundation bases its work on the understanding that “artistic activities by and for children create opportunities for self-expression, empowerment and the development of coping skills.”
To present the garden, I enlisted the help of my friend, Macon Leiper. Together, we built a large, wooden frame that would hold the flowers. Back in my studio, I placed each flower inside the frame, allowing the piece to transition from yellow to purple. The culmination of months of work by many individuals, this was such a satisfying moment!
Special thanks to the many volunteers at the Periwinkle Foundation who helped make this project possible as well as the friends who lent their time and skill.
Carpentry: Macon Leiper
Fabric prep: Angel Oloshove, Susannah Mira, Stephanie Gonzalez, Alicia Price, Kendra Baze-Craven and Family
Photography and Videography: Javier Paredes, Gerrard Harrison