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Butterfly Bower​

wildflowers, soil, neo-gothic carriage house

12' (h) x 10'(w) x 18'(d)

 

McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC.

2012

This beautiful stone building is the carriage house behind a neo-gothic church. The fire-ravaged church was restored to become the McColl Center for Visual Art, but the manse and carriage house were deemed unrestorable.​

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I cleaned, brought in 4 yards of topsoil, and planted an array of Southwest native wildflowers preferred by the pollinators: butterflies, bees and other insects. Certain vines were chosen especially to provide food and nesting habitat for the hummingbirds of the Atlantic Flyway, which crosses through the Charlotte area.


This artwork doesn't have stepstones, benches, or other amenities to invite humans. A bower is a place of respite; this one is intended solely to leave a wild place for these creatures who do so much service for our world.

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Butterflies, Architecture and the Cartesian Split
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