When Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County decided to plant 30,000 sunflowers, their master gardeners immediately knew they needed scarecrows to protect the seeds from hungry birds. Their next thought was to contact Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County to help create kinetic scarecrow sculptures.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to work with Mounts Botanical Gardens in an effort to celebrate art, pollinators and positive human impact in our environment,” said Cultural Arts Coordinator Casandra Tanenbaum. “Art teachers in five of our Clubs walked more than 100 students through designing, planning and completing their sculptures, looking at existing and well-crafted kinetic sculptures from around the world.”
All of the supplies for the kinetic sculptures were provided by the non-profits Jack the Bike Man and Resource Depot. Marjorie S. Fisher Boys & Girls Club, Max M. Fisher Boys & Girls Club, Florence De George Boys & Girls Club, Neil S. Hirsch Family Boys & Girls Club and Boys & Girls Club of Boca Raton participated in the program.
The sunflowers were planted in an abandoned parking lot next to the 14-acre garden as a temporary exhibit to help draw attention to pollinators and their importance to our environment. Different variety of sunflowers were planted at different times to allow for a longer blooming season for the “sunflower forest.” It’s expected that the height of the blooms will be seen as early as mid-July. The sculptures created by the Club members are vital to protect the seedlings by fending off scavenging birds.
“This is an amazing project that not only allows different organizations to partner in our community, but more importantly allow our Club members to be connected to the outdoors while learning about kinetic art, engineering, and our fragile environment,” said Vice President of Corporate Partnerships & Marketing Eric Roby.
The sunflowers and the kinetic scarecrow sculptures can be seen through the summer at Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County located at 531 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach, Fla. Click on the link below to support projects that help to develop our youth to their fullest potential.
