Be a Part of the Hub Learning Garden Project

Dear Friends of The Hub,

   Now at the start of our third year, The Hub is embarking on a project aimed at nurturing our existing garden space.  We see numerous benefits emerging from such an endeavour – key among them being the value of a garden as a learning space.  Tied to this are the roles it can play in community building - members help to create, care for and enjoy the garden as a sanctuary in an urban area, a restorative space in which to read, explore and relax. By making the garden more beautiful and accessible, we can also utilize it as an outdoor gallery and as a place to serve light fare and beverages and hold intimate outdoor events.  In this way, the Learning Garden Project will allow The Hub to expand upon our services and income – both tasks important to the sustainability of this community arts space. 

   The Hub has spent two years celebrating the high open ceilings and raw cement block walls of its      interior. Most of our programming has purposefully taken advantage of the shelter the building itself provides – in between art shows, workshops and lectures, theatre, film and musical performances have taken centre stage. The garden has always been there and has been appreciated for the most part as is – a hodge-podge of crab grass and apparent “weeds” interspersed with flowering shrubs and graceful palms. We have dreamt of the sanctuary we know an enhanced backyard could provide and now we feel it is time to explore this idea.

Locally, we have been inspired by the newly created lush park on the grounds of Collins House; energized by New Providence Community Centre’s bountiful greenhouse and farmer’s market; encouraged by the government’s Backyard Garden Program and motivated by the growing need to counter the effects of global warming by expanding green space, no matter the scale.  Around the globe, the growing interest in living walls and green roofs has urged us to explore their application in a local context as a demonstration of how simple technologies can improve air quality and naturally improve cooling by insulating the building’s envelope.

We believe it will be empowering to bring these models to our cozy backyard and regard the Learning Garden Project as an important step in The Hub’s evolution. In the past we have hosted “Green Talks” and championed the importance of a healthy environment in the message of our Facelift mural. The time has come to create a living example of the change we want to see. We want local people to mingle with tourists and languish in the greenery while learning about our flora and fauna. We want our friends and members to drop by to pick herbs from the garden and children to learn about how and what to grow. We want to take time to smell the Frangipani, provide a space for folk to breathe in deeply, and we want people to “get the bug” and begin to create their own gardens at home and in their communities, using The Learning Garden as example.

Please consider helping us to reach this worthwhile goal of bringing more green to the scene!

Warmly,
Margot Bethel