Botanica
Public RainKeep
Florida Botanical Garden rain harvesting sculpture with Coyle & Caron Landscape Architects 2021.
Allison Newsome was honored to receive a commission for the Florida Botanical Gardens RainKeep ‘Botanica’ and to collaborate with Coyle and Caron Landscape Architects. ‘Botanica’ will be on display on McKay Creek Plaza for the duration of the year, before it moves to its new home in the Majeed Discovery Garden. The ‘Botanica’ RainKeep will then be relocated to its permanent placement in between the Art Line and our Florida-Friendly Garden.
Soho, Centre St.
Public RainKeep
SoHo, NYC, in collaboration w/ NYC re-a.d architecture/ design NYC 2021.
This flower sculpture blooming on the streets of Soho does not only shine as an eye-catching art installation but also catches rainwater and stores it in the recycled aluminum tank connected to the flower sculpture. This water is later used to water the plants on the pavilion, establishing a self-sustainable system. The entire system contributes to decreasing flash flooding in the streets of New York. This self-sustained system also contributes to easy care of the plants on the pavilion.
Big Blue
Public RainKeep
2019 Bioneers Conference
Three Sisters
Public RainKeep
Historic New England Casey Farm Museum Community Garden 2021
RainKeep Three Sisters honors the Indigenous heritage of the land and the lessons of sustainability and harmony with nature that heritage teaches. It tells the Eastern Woodlands creation story of the Three Sisters—corn, beans, and squash—which grow near where the sculpture will be installed.
The upper canopy of the sculpture collects dew and rain, which flows down the chain past aluminum figures onto petals that guide the water into a 500-gallon rain barrel. Gardeners and children at Casey Farm programs will draw water from its spigot to nurture the garden beds, even as they absorb the story it tells.
The artwork is the result of a collaboration between two artists, Allison Newsome and Deborah Spears Moorehead.
