KCAI-Brush Creek Community Rain Garden
As part of the Community Arts and Service Learning program at KCAI, students collaborated with a variety of civic organizations and businesses to create the KCAI-Brush Creek Community Rain Garden.
The garden was formally dedicated on May 2, 2008 (see below). The garden is located in Theis Park at Volker Boulevard and Oak Street, only a few blocks from the Kansas City Art Institute.
The rain garden was designed by students who participated in a course entitled “Persuasive Ecology and Design." Planting day activities and subsequent documentation were spearheaded by CASL interns Patti Krueger, Laura Bernard and Rachel Howe. The college and many community partners have been working on the garden since its creation during the 2006-07 academic year.
Faculty liaisons include Julia Cole, chair of interdisciplinary arts in the School of Fine Arts, and Tyler Galloway, assistant professor in the School of Design. Staff liaison is Julie Metzler, director of the CASL program.
Students designed the rain garden in collaboration with Brush Creek Community Partners and representatives of several of its member organizations; the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department; and the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Discovery Center. Several Kansas City firms and individuals offered advice, hands-on assistance, materials or cash donations, including Embassy Landscaping, McCownGordon Construction, BNIM Architects, Black & Veatch, Dimensional Innovations and Linda Lighton. Individuals from city departments, including Kansas City Water Services, and from other local organizations, including the University of Missouri-Kansas City, all donated time and expertise.
The goal of the class was to provide an opportunity for students to learn about the ecology of the region, address community needs and learn how to communicate basic ecological principles to the general public in a “fresh, appropriate and persuasive manner,” Metzler said. She noted that the garden is designed to educate the public about the advantages of capturing rainwater where it falls and using native plans to help it soak into the soil instead of running off the surface.
For more information, e-mail brushcreekraingardenupdates@gmail.com.
Pictured above, from left to right, are KCAI interns Laura Bernard and Patti Krueger, Community member Don Wilkison, UMKC intern David Goth, CASL director Julie Metzler, community member Leigh Rosser; photo by Julia Cole chair of interdisciplinary arts.
Dedication Ceremony
On May 2, 2008, the garden was formally dedicated. (All photos by Leigh Rosser.)
Pictured: Former Mayor Kay Barnes spoke at the ceremony. Also in the picture are (from left): Interdisciplinary Arts Chair Juila Cole, Design Assistant Professor Tyler Galloway, KCAI President Kathleen Collins, President of the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Commissioners Board John Fierro and Kansas City Councilwoman Jan Marcason. Barnes was part of an invitiative called "10,000 Rain Gardens" during her tenure as mayor in which the goal was to engage homeowners, businesses, churches, nonprofits and schools in a voluntary effort to reduce wet weather problems such as flooding, sewer backups and dangerous pollution of streams and rivers.
Interdisciplinary Arts Chair Julia Cole, pictured here speaking at the dedication ceremony, has been the faculty liaison for the KCAI students participating in the rain garden project.
Pictured: close-up of rain garden, spring 2008
How the project unfolded
Schematic of rain garden
KCAI student presents overview of rain garden concept to a community group.
Students finish the presentation and answer questions from the audience. Presentations took place in 2006, and the garden was created in 2007.
Planting Day 2007
Pictured: Corrie Van Sice and Paul Shortt, two of the original team from the "Persuasive Ecology and Design" class, help to plant the garden. In the background are community volunteers, including a 15-year-old high school student doing some community service. Rachael Howe, a KCAI student intern working on the rain garden project, took the photo.
Pictured: close-up of flowers and rocks, fall 2007.