Artistic Expression through Nature
Story by Aspen Wooley | Photos Courtesy Holland Anderson (pictured above with Professor Jolley)
Honors student Holland Anderson is a junior at BYU from Orange County, CA studying Plant and Landscape Systems. During a family trip to Nicaragua, she stumbled upon a unique opportunity by meeting the founder of Vera Eco Resort in San Ramon. This property is a sustainable and ecological resort, farm, and school for underprivileged children. The resort needs spaces for learning, reflection, and spiritual rejuvenation, and they invited Holland to design and implement a meditation garden and add to the edible forest on the property. This invitation led to Holland’s Honors thesis project: “Edible Forest and Meditation Garden Design at Vera Eco Resort, Nicaragua.” She is working with faculty mentor Professor Greg Jolley, a landscape architect in the Department of Plant & Wildlife Sciences.
These spaces will not only be for the guests, but also for students from the on-site school. These students seek refuge and a place where they can be calm and free. The meditation garden’s point may not be fully realized by them, “but they still can feel the peace of the space” Holland explains. It will be a space in which they can not only relax, but also eat fresh fruit and connect with the world around them.
I sat down with Holland, and she walked me through the process of research and design for this incredible project that combines creativity with research.
Aspen: What led you to this major?
Holland: It combines everything I love! I can work with nature but also be able to express myself artistically. I have realized that I have to let nature breath through a space, rather than me forcing what I want to happen. Nature is always going to be in control and do what it wants in the end, so to try and control that is just a losing battle. I think there’s so much to learn from nature, so getting to see it come through and teach us is something that’s really beautiful.
Aspen: Where do you get your inspiration from?
Holland: I love visiting gardens and am always learning from architectural designs. My dad was a sculptor, and I am a visual artist myself, so I was raised thinking about design and elements of aesthetics. It is like I am sculpting the design for this project in my mind. I also get inspiration from what I come across every day: books, paintings, and landscapes. Since I’m interested in meditation, that influence shapes a lot of my work as well.
Aspen: Who does this resort bring in?
Holland: The school brings in about 50 students, and they are hoping to add a grade level each year to bring that to around 200 students. The resort part brings in around 20 guests at a time, with the restaurant bringing in locals and others to eat and explore the property.
Aspen: Can you walk me through the design process?
Holland: With this design process, first you create a base sheet with the dimensions of the area and the important structures or features. Then you can move on to the functional diagram, thinking about how the space moves and what the needs of the space are. After this comes the form composition, thinking of shapes to create the aesthetic design. Finally, you talk to the client about everything that they want, and the intentions they have. You create an image so that you can show the client your idea and they can see the potential it has. This gets them excited so they’ll want to implement the idea. More of this design process will come next semester, though.
Aspen: What does the research part look like?
Holland: I have a lot of different books and readings that I get from my faculty advisor, and those are really helpful. I am also researching plants of the property, what they currently have and what other plants we can implement. I plan on reaching out to extension agencies and universities in Nicaragua to see if they have access to new varieties or species that we could bring and propagate on site. I am also meeting with experts in meditation and getting their input on how to implement the fundamentals of meditation in the garden. I hope to use this space as a teacher that will guide someone through the space.
Aspen: What has been the most challenging thing about this project?
Holland: I would say a challenge is that compared to local projects, where we can go whenever we want, this project is in another country and harder to access. I’m kind of making some guesses and have to wait for a response, and that can be a little bit difficult. I’ll also have to research ways to get more plant variety on site because that has been difficult with the government in the past. Other challenges arise because I don’t have a ton of experience, and this is the first time synthesizing everything that I’ve been learning into a project. So that’s been a big learning curve and just very overwhelming. Working through that feels a little bit like baby steps right now.
Aspen: What are some successes you have seen already?
Holland: We were able to pull off getting me and Professor Jolley to Nicaragua! That was pretty big. Another success is that as I’ve been doing a lot of reading about landscape architecture and philosophy, I’ve found that I am really passionate about it! And it’s really great to feel that way because it’s my future career. To be able to read about the subject and feel a deep love for what I’m doing is really good.
Aspen: What have you learned from those you’ve met in Nicaragua through this project?
Holland: We met with the main farm director, and she is super knowledgeable about restorative agriculture and plant propagation, directing all of that on site. We also got to visit the greenhouses and ask about all of their practices for growing crops. They have a goal to donate a certain number of trees to Nicaragua and help with reforestation, so they propagate trees and then give them out to the community to plant. One of the local employees is an expert on wildlife, so he gave us tours of the fauna, birds, and insects. That was fun to see how connected they are to the animal side of things, and because my focus is on plants I lose sight of that sometimes. The management of the organization is really passionate about what they do, so they’ve been really supportive. They love my ideas and my passion as well, so that’s been a great experience.
Aspen: What new skills have you developed?
Holland: A skill that I have learned is just juggling all of the different details that I have to be aware of. I have to keep them all at the forefront of my mind so that I’m not forgetting important aspects of the area.
Aspen: When will the project be done?
Holland: I hope that the design can be done by the end of winter semester, and then I will have to coordinate and see what the implementation process will look like. I haven’t worked out all the logistics, but there is a chance that I would go back to Nicaragua with more people from my major. We could donate our time to help implement or build the garden, and I think that would be a really cool opportunity. I am excited to see what inspiration will come my way through this!
In conclusion, Holland noted this process has been inspiring and expansive, resulting in a project that will have local and widespread effects. In every space, including gardens and other landscape architecture, there is so much that goes into creating an experience. This is something Holland hopes will shine through in her thesis project. Intention is so specific, she explains, and her design choices will be intentional as well as symbolic. This brings awareness to the artistry and intention that is all around us if we just take the time to recognize it.