https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com


Q&A/Impressionist painting comes to life in Columbus

Q&A/Impressionist painting comes to life in Columbus

Downtown Columbus, Ohio, is home to the world's only existing topiary interpretation of a painting. Visitors to Old Deaf School Park the site of a school
  • Written by Lindsay Isaacs, Associate Editor
  • 1st August 2001

Downtown Columbus, Ohio, is home to the world’s only existing topiary interpretation of a painting. Visitors to Old Deaf School Park — the site of a school that burned down in 1981 — can walk through a topiary garden modeled on Georges Seurat’s famous work “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884.” The garden, about the size of a football field, is filled with 54 people, eight boats, three dogs, a monkey and a cat sculpted in Japanese yew trees. The largest figure is 12 feet tall. The garden is a project of the city’s Recreation and Parks Department and was created by James and Elaine Mason. James, a lifelong resident of Columbus, has taught sculpture in the department since 1967.

Q: How did you get the idea to build a topiary garden?

A: I was at Longwood [Gardens in Philadelphia where] they have a very nice classical topiary. It was a fall day in October, late afternoon, kind of hazy. The light and the shapes reminded me of an Impressionist painting.

[My wife and I] were going to do a topiary in our backyard. I flippantly said, “I’d like to do Seurat’s ‘A Sunday on La Grande Jatte’ in topiary,” and we both laughed because it was a big project. So we forgot about it, but my wife later was in [a Recreation and Parks Department] meeting. After the meeting, she said, “I’ve got this really crazy idea,” and [the director] thought it was great. He said, “Fine. Get it together. I know exactly where to put it.”

We got a package together and [met with] Motorists Insurance, which borders the north side of the park. It turned out that they liked it too, which was a bit of luck because nobody in the Midwest really knows what topiaries are. You can find them on the West Coast, but they’re mainly on the East Coast. [Motorists] did the initial funding, and it took two years to put it together. I think it was in the fall of 1987 that we started putting the first bushes in.

Q: Did you consider any other paintings to do in topiary?

A: There are a lot of them you could do, but this just happened to be the perfect painting. It’s a painting of people in a park. The idea behind the thing is a pun. It’s a landscape of a painting as opposed to a painting of a landscape. It’s a play on the whole Impressionist period.

Q: What is involved in creating the topiaries?

A: First of all, you have to build a framework of the shape you want. You anchor that on the ground, and you put your plant on the inside of it. We use taxus plant (Japanese Yew) because it is very hardy for this area. As the tree grows, you shape it to the form of the armature. It’s clipped into shape.

Q: So, the figures are not fully grown when you install them?

A: No. I’ll probably not live long enough to see the whole thing actually fully grown, which is why you don’t see too many of them in the Midwest. Nobody stays in the same place long enough.

Q: Is there anything about the painting that you left out because it wouldn’t work as a topiary?

A: The idea was not actually to reproduce the painting exactly. The idea was to get a reasonable facsimile so you feel like you’re walking into the painting. It didn’t have to be an exact interpretation. We left a little bit of room for dealing with the realities of the park.

The question I get asked most often is, “Do I get impatient for the figures to fill out?” Well, yes and no. Actually, what I’m impatient for are the other trees to get big so we get the vertical scale. But there’s no fast way to do that, you just have to wait for the trees to grow.

Q: What kind of maintenance is required to keep up the figures?

A: Just general park maintenance. [Volunteers] mow the lawn and plant flowers, and the topiaries need to be clipped. The big clipping is generally in June. They’re clipped throughout the summer, and we do some clipping in September, too.

Q: What do you think the park contributes to Columbus?

A: It gives us a certain amount of sophistication. Uniqueness. I don’t know of any other place like it. We’ve been published [in periodicals] all over the world, so there’s a PR value. The most important thing, though, is that it’s a real nice place to go and have lunch.

Tags:

Most Recent


  • NYC wants to convert unused offices into housing units through relaxed regulations, incentivization
    Since the start of the pandemic, cities across the United States have seen a dramatic increase in residents working from home, and in correlation, more unused offices. While local governments are still grappling with the best way to overcome this challenge, converting vacated commercial space into residential dwellings is a clear solution, as it simultaneously […]
  • podcasts
    Tuning into your community: Top reasons why your agency needs a podcast
    Podcasts are more popular than ever. In fact, in the United States, podcasts attract more than 100 million monthly listeners (according to demandsage.com). Are you tapping into the power of the pod to deliver important news on your city or county’s programs, projects, initiatives and community partnerships? If not, you may miss out on a […]
  • 25 of the best city flags flying over American metros and towns
    When it comes to city flags, “form follows function.” A simple, well-designed city flag creates community cohesion, fosters civic pride, and support’s the commuinity’s branding. It also costs less and more residents are apt to use it, according to a survey ranking the best city flags in the United States from the North American Vexillological […]
  • sustainability
    Residents ask government leaders to show measurable sustainability results and triumphs
    There’s a growing urgency for cities and counties to go green, says Sol Salinas, executive vice president, sustainability lead at Capgemini Americas, a service-based company that provides consulting, digital transformation and outsourcing services to many organizations, including government agencies. It partners with organizations to transform and manage their operations by harnessing the power of technology. […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • NLC releases State of Cities 2021 report
  • How governments can keep employees safe as they return to work
  • Lessons from your friendly neighborhood public service employees
  • North Texas alliance partners with Marketplace.city on smart government solutions

White papers


Modernizing government services for today’s resident expectations

24th January 2023

Preparing Your Community Now for the Next Generation of Older Adults

18th October 2022

Helping Government Fleets Achieve Their Goals

30th September 2022
view all

Webinars


Future-proof Your State and Local Government Finance: 5 Key Trends for 2023

6th February 2023

How To: Evaluate Digital Government Service Delivery Technologies

23rd January 2023

Using Technology to Enhance Communications

29th November 2022
view all

PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


25 of the best city flags flying over American metros and towns

7th February 2023

These 10 American cities are well prepared for a tech-based future

1st February 2023

Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand

26th January 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

NYC wants to convert unused offices into housing units through relaxed regulations, incentivization dlvr.it/Sj7ls5

8th February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Tuning into your community: Top reasons why your agency needs a podcast dlvr.it/Sj7578

8th February 2023
AmerCityCounty

25 of the best city flags flying over American metros and towns dlvr.it/Sj2RyK

7th February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Residents ask government leaders to show measurable sustainability results and triumphs dlvr.it/Sj1znw

6th February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Future-proof Your State and Local Government Finance: 5 Key Trends for 2023 dlvr.it/Sj1KxB

6th February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Amid spike, federal transportation department launches initiative to curb traffic-related deaths dlvr.it/Shvs31

3rd February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Engaging businesses to strengthen your community dlvr.it/ShvZn0

3rd February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Report: Some public employees face financial hardship; comprehensive pay packages proved ‘a pathway toward economic… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

2nd February 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.