The Wellness Garden: A Special Project from The Well

“...all flourishing is mutual.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer

About this project:

To ignite the collective imagination towards the re-wilding of urban spaces, interdisciplinary artist and Nature enthusiast Julia Orquera Bianco is partnering with local nonprofit The Well, and The Well-landlord Sean Mullaney, to create a nature and contemplation corridor that connects Colerain Ave. and Henshaw St. This path will be surrounded by benches, gardens, sculptures, and spaces for pause and contemplation, and will constitute The Wellness Garden. The garden will be connected to The Well’s Planet Love mural and pocket park, designed and installed in 2023 as part of a partnership with ArtWorks and The Well and youth employment in the arts.

The creation of the garden will be a six-month long process. Throughout this process, there will be opportunities for neighbors and beyond to come together in community engagement sessions led by local artists and organizations, as well as opportunities to become an active part in establishing this garden.

DONATE

Donated funds will be put towards three main areas:

• Materials and supplies for corridor include but are not limited to: gardening tools (hoes, shovels, rakes, loppers, wheelbarrows, gloves, buckets, pruning shears, serrated knives), mulch, soil, seeds, net, fabric. This may also include the purchase of extra supplies, such as rocks, concrete slabs, gravel. This can be offset by donations of the materials, tools, and supplies themselves. Contact Julia here.

• Part-time assistance involves securing the services of one or more helpers, especially during the high season (June through August 2024).

• Supplies and honorariums for Community Engagement sessions would involve activating the space of the garden once every two weeks or twice a month, from May through September 2024.

VOLUNTEER

We are looking for volunteers to help clean, prep, and build this community garden!

Every other Saturday from 9 am to 11 am | May 11, 2024 - October 26, 2024

Sign up to volunteer here.

History:

Camp Washington is a neighborhood in Cincinnati with a complex economic, environmental, and cultural history. In its early days, the U.S. Army encampment that gave the neighborhood its name trained more than 5,000 troops who served in the Mexican-American War. A few years later, in 1850, Camp Washington was the location of the first Ohio State Fair. By the end of the 19th century, this neighborhood had established itself as an industrial center, where manufacturing grew consistently and helped American families weather the Great Depression. However, in the 1970’s the neighborhood started suffering a transformation due to deindustrialization that involved the emigration to a large portion of its neighbors. Today, only 10% of its peak population lives in Camp Washington.

The years of substantial industrial growth left scars with deep environmental costs to the neighborhood: according to the City of Cincinnati Neighborhood Profile, Camp Washington has 0.7% tree canopy cover (ranked 47th of all 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati), and is ranked 49th for percent of land in parks and greenspaces (roughly 1%).