THE TURTLE’S GARDEN

The Turtle’s Garden is a living temporary art installation that will be installed at Louis Valentino Park starting Fall 2024 to Fall 2025.
The installation will inform and encourage awareness of native plant species that will thrive along the Brooklyn waterfront and the important role they play in the environment and public space. The garden will nurture human visitors as well as insects.

The Turtle’s Garden will be created in the shape of a turtle. The head, tail, and legs of the turtle will be sewn out of a marine vinyl fabric that will be stuffed with single use plastic bags collected from community residents. The turtle parts will be installed around the garden so that people will be able to sit and engage with the garden that is the turtle's body. The garden will be created with plants purchased at Lowlands Nursery at Gowanus.

During the Fall we will create a Wonder planting workshop at Louis Valentino Park. Dates and details are soon to be announced!

We will create this garden in phases. This year we will create the Turtle’s Circle and plant native plants for them to establish their roots.

During the Spring of 2025 we will install the turtle parts and create public events at the park and possibly other venues in Red Hook. The Turtle’s Garden will remain in the park until Fall 2025! I will document its changes throughout the year.

This project was selected by Art Lives Here as the Project development cohort. For more information: https://www.artlivesherenyc.org/project-development-salas

It will be created thanks to the funding of Brooklyn Arts Council Community Arts Grants.

This year, BAC will distribute $1.7million to help fund 317 Brooklyn creatives and cultural organizations through their Community Arts Grants, Creative Equations Fund, and SU-CASA Creative Aging programs.

The project's main goal is to create awareness of the environment in a meaningful and playful way. It seeks to promote a culture of respect and appreciation for the natural world, and for the creatures that inhabit it. The public art installation will be a reminder that we are all interconnected. Through this installation, people of all ages and walks of life can learn about the importance of nature and its role in our existence. The artwork will not only be aesthetically pleasing, but it will also serve as a catalyst for conversations and deeper connections.

this are the plants that will grow in the turtle’s back

here are some pictures of the concept phase of this project

The Turtle’s Garden was inspired by the creation story of Turtle Island and it is an invitation to the indigenous peoples to tell their own Creation story through public programming and/or artistic collaboration of the design and making of The Turtle’s Garden.