Undergraduate landscape and garden design students explored
the process and value of creating an ephemeral artwork on campus to share with
the wider community of Writtle University College. The multi-stemmed Betula utilis var. jacquemontii
(Western Himalayan birch) were transformed with rings of Cornus sericea
'Flaviramea' (golden-twig dogwood) and a carpet of golden Ginkgo biloba foliage. Finally to brighten a winter’s evening and
create an unexpected moment for people as they ended their day the students
placed rings of candles around each tree and in one of the rings suspended in a
tree’s branches.
This environmental
art intervention follows in a long tradition of such events at Writtle
University College which have been fostered over the years by the lecturers Steve
Terry and Dr Jill Raggett. They have worked with their talented students and in
a number of collaborations with professional artists, designers and architects.
Read more about this work in their keynote chapter in the recently published:
J. Sellers and B. Moss Learning with the
Labyrinth, Creating Reflective Space in Higher Education. London: Palgrave
Teaching and Learning. Chp. 2. : Raggett, J. and Terry, S. (2016) ‘Treading
Lightly: Learning, art and landscape’.
Dr Jill Raggett,
Reader in Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Steve Terry, Senior Lecturer in Design
