Post from Sammi Smoot
June 9, 2012: The mural is complete!
Troy Ganz, the winner of the campus-wide Green Teaching Garden Mural Contest. Troy did a great job didn’t he? The idea of the mural follows the lifecycle of a phoenix. Here is a written description of the concept of his entry:
The theme of sustainability is captured in this mural by following a sequence of pictures that compare the transition from old-world methods and sources of energy production (old world) to green, renewable forms of energy production (new world) to the life cycle of the phoenix. Traditionally, the phoenix is a symbolic figure used by many cultures to express the eternal principle of nature. After an expanse of time in the adult form, the phoenix builds a nest whereby it settles and combusts into ash. From the ashes an egg is recovered containing the next generation of the only mature phoenix.
For the purposes of this mural, the phoenix, may symbolize the earth, or perhaps a human spirit awakening to the disaster of society’s dependence on non-renewable resources. From left to right the mural reads as follows:
- In a nest constructed of litter and trash, a new-born phoenix hatches into a world, to be entirely disrespectful to the natural ecology of earth as polluting power plants, oil, tree, coal mining and dump sites tower above the creature creating a scene of looming disparity under the cover of night and smog.
- The landscape is divided by a river as the adult phoenix is seen gliding through the air towards the new-day of eco-conscious, sustainable practices.
- The final panel, or right side, retains the symmetry of the picture by placing the nest prepared with fresh twigs in the foreground and rising levels of grasslands filled with renewable sources of energy production such as windmills, solar panels and recycling factories. Fire is consuming the fresh nest and is symbolic of satisfaction with sustainable energy production.
I wanted to also post some pictures from around the garden because it’s looking so beautiful!
(Left) The butterfly garden with butterflies made from recycled aluminum cans by Hannah Day, Meredith Smylie and Michelle Reed. (Right) Beautiful blooming Marsh Mallow or otherwise known as the native Carolina hibiscus.
