Current and former Sinclair Community College students are doing their part to help beautify and revitalize Dayton’s urban core. Garden Station, an art park and community garden located in downtown Dayton, has become a haven for creative individuals looking for an outlet.
But it took a lot of hard work to get there.
“This area was a mess,” says Lisa Helms, project co-manager of Garden Station. “We probably took 30 or 40 bags of trash out of here. We had to haul out old couches, mattresses, clothing and tents.”
The lot, located at the corner of Wayne Ave. and E. Fourth St., had been vacant for 40 years before the Dayton Circus Creative Collective leased the area from the City of Dayton in June of 2008. The Dayton Circus is an organization designed to nourish community artistic collaboration, according to Helms.
David Kenworthy, a Sinclair graduate, was involved with the project from the beginning and helped transform the two-acre site into what it is today.
“Last year, it was a wreck,” Kenworthy says. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to help beautify the property.”
The former Sinclair Community College visual communication major currently has two pieces in the garden. He utilized his expertise in graphic design and fine arts to create a shimmering metal sculpture, which stands near the entrance of the garden, and a seven-foot tall milk carton made out of discarded fence wood. Kenworthy’s next project will be an 18-foot tall arch for the corner of the garden.
“It’s a nice place to come and eat your lunch,” says Audrey Isabelle Malhotra, a current engineering student at Sinclair. “It’s very relaxing.”
Malhotra discovered Garden Station through the Dayton Circus Web site. Her contribution to the garden is a five-foot tall mandala sculpture she constructed out of wire, fabric and twine. In addition to working on her art piece, she is committed to “regularly coming by on the weekends” to plant flowers.
Malhotra is a performer as well as an artist.
“I hope to sing here,” she said. “I’ve seen some pretty awesome performances (at Garden Station).”
Richard Lober, a 1999 Sinclair Alum, has known about the abandoned lot for years and hoped it could one day be converted into a useful space.
“One day, I noticed people in the lot moving stuff around,” Lober says. “I talked to Lisa (Helms) and she said ‘We can always use volunteers.'”
Lober, who describes himself as a “garden artist”, erected a massive art easel that stands approximately 16 feet high. The wood structure, completed last September, has been used to display six different pieces of art. The wide canvas also doubles as a movie screen during garden events, which include burrito jams, bonfires and music festivals.
Aside from the art pieces, there are additional fixtures in the garden including a performance stage, a lily pond, wooden benches and a flower box. All of these items are in various stages of completion and are generally constructed of “found materials” such as wood pallets and used tires. Any additional materials are donated, according to Helms. The site is partially surrounded by a brick wall which serves as a showcase for commissioned murals.
Lober urges Sinclair students to come by and contribute to the park’s continued development.
“Several former Sinclair students are involved,” said Lober. “I invite more students to come by…and become friends of the garden. It’s a relaxing place. We hope that the students will come out more this year.”
Additional information about Garden Station can be found at:
www.myspace.com/gardenstation
www.DaytonCircus.org
Students with art ideas for Garden Station should contact Lisa Helms at 937-610-3845.