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Last week, I got back from the opening of the “Life in the Gardens – Frabel at Phipps” exhibition. This is our 4th large exhibition at Botanical Gardens (the first one was in 2004) and every time the exhibition becomes a bit bigger. This one required two 53ft tractor trailers to transport all the glass to this beautiful botanical garden.

A group of 15 people worked 7 long days to get everything installed and at this spot, I would like to thank all of them for doing a great job. You never know what your new installations will look like until you have put it all together and I was pleased with the result of it all.

New at this exhibition are the “Longfellow Gravity” installation, that consists of 3 large cubes that seem to tumble down a hill into a pond, surrounded by 14 Longfellows in different sizes that look and see this all happen, but are able to play during all of this. It is about seeing fun and enjoyment, even when things around you are not as easy as they once may have been. The second installation that was new is the “Tower”, a large version of a sculpture I created somewhere in the late 1970’s titled: “Tower of Babel”.

The opening night was well organized and a lot of fun. Good food and the installations were really well lit up for the night display. An evening visit to the Garden really gives a completely different perspective on the sculptures. It really is worth to see the show both during the day and once again at night.

Phipps is one of oldest and largest Conservatories in the United States and it really is spectacular. The building as well as all the plants and flowers inside were just breathtaking. But besides all the wonderful nature that I thoroughly enjoyed, I have to say that I was also extremely impressed with all the technology that they are using to reduce their footprint on our environment. Phipps is using special glass that keeps the heat inside in winter and stays cools in summer. There are special shields to keep the heat out in summer, a Fuel-Cell system created by Siemens that creates Hydrogen out of Natural gas and then converts that into energy at an efficiency of 80%(!) and the cups and cutlery used in their cafeteria are 100% biodegradable and made from plants only (corn for a clear plastic looking cup and potatoes, believe it or not, for the cutlery).

The beauty of the garden is stunning and the technology of all of this blew me away. Inspired by their example, I have decided to work on ways to reduce my and my Studio’s impact on the environment. We are a pretty green operation already, we recycle our glass, use natural gas for our torches and don’t use plastic cups or plastic cutlery, but I am now convinced we can do more and I will be actively looking into all of this.

Although my time on earth may be limited, I want my garbage to disappear quickly and my art to stay, and hopefully be enjoyed, forever.

Check out their website for opening hours and other information: phipps.conservatory.org