Garden cultivates connections

On a steamy summer afternoon, zinnias, forget-me-nots, marigolds and other flowers were in full bloom near Wheaton’s outdoor tennis courts.

Surrounded by drought-stricken grass, the colorful flowers stretched toward the sky from a rectangular box designed in the tight footprint of a traditional solitary confinement prison cell.

The resilient and hopeful nature of the garden is exactly what Beard and Weil Galleries Director Elizabeth Hoy envisioned when she began a collaboration with artist Jackie Sumell and invited students, staff and faculty to help create the Garden for Incarcerated Mothers at Wheaton.

Wheaton’s garden is a version of the Solitary Gardens project founded by Sumell, whose art and advocacy focuses on those impacted by mass incarceration. The artist’s project pairs individuals in solitary confinement with people on “the outside” to create a garden together.

“Our garden is a little different, as we are creating a flower garden for incarcerated moms,” Hoy said. “Eighty percent of incarcerated women are mothers. We are connecting with mothers at the Massachusetts women’s prison MCIFramingham, with the help of [Roxbury, Mass.-based] Families for Justice as Healing, a nonprofit led by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their loved ones.”

“The women who are participating chose one of 12 flowers that they feel represents them. We are sharing images of our flowers and garden as it grows,” she said. “There are a few other gardens for incarcerated mothers across the country; each garden has the same flowers.”

Hoy added that Wheaton’s project has several goals: “to create empathy for and connection with people who are currently or formerly incarcerated; to build a greater understanding of the systems of oppression that have created this carceral state; and to support the Wheaton community in considering what criminal justice is as an academic subject.”

Conary “Nicky” Howard-Rogers ’23, a biochemistry and visual art double major, created a metal gate that is at the head of the garden as part of an independent study in public art.

“I was initially asked by Elizabeth to help out with some metalwork for a project. When I found out that I was working on the garden installation, I became pretty interested in the whole concept and the messaging behind the art,”

Howard-Rogers said. “My own artwork commonly explores areas of social change focused around the climate. It was really interesting to get to do art that focused on a different form of social change.”

—Sandy Coleman

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