2018 Gold Award Winner for Installation

The Commons at the MCA

In 2017, two artists from Mexico City embarked on designing a hanging garden to provide year-round greenery while simultaneously representing the cultural diversity and intangible qualities that the people of Chicago embody with plants.  The horticulturalists from our company worked closely with the duo to make plant selections that would do well indoors and still meet the aesthetic goals for this project.  Over the course of several months, our team worked with growers to locate the specific varieties to meet the needs of the final installation.  Once the selections were completed, the manufacturer shipped the custom plant liners to our warehouse for planting.  After planting, the installation team brought the planted liners to the museum for hanging—the plants became the final touch in a mass of lanterns transforming a blank slate of a room into a modern wonder of the world reminiscent of Babylon.  More than 100 illuminated dish gardens settled in amongst the lamps creating a magnificent plantscape on the ceiling brightening even the dreariest of Chicago Winter Days.