The Mission of the Sculpture Program

The South Carolina Botanical Garden Nature-based Sculpture Program Mission, Goals and Objectives.

The South Carolina Botanical Garden Nature-based Sculpture Program is administered through the Botanical Garden's Cultural Programs and is produced in partnership with Clemson University's Landscape Architecture program. The mission of this public art program is four-fold.

Part 1 of the Mission

First, the sculpture program exists to allow Nature-oriented sculptors opportunity to create original works that:
1) are a response to a natural site selected by the artist

2) are constructed predominately of natural materials

3) incorporate living plant material

4) are intended to invoke an intrinsic connection with Nature (not to make provocative social or political statements or commentary)

5) and create a "sacred" space where the viewer experiences him/herself as an interactive, integral part of the invocation as well as the physical creation.

The result of this program is a unique collection of living sculptures that create sacred spaces that grow, transform and decline seasonally with each passing year. Sculptures in most site-specific, Nature-based programs have a life span of not more than six months to a year. The "extended ephemeral" nature of this transformational art form allows a living landscape feature to evolve as the original piece degrades, leaving an ever changing impression of the artist's original proposition. The life expectancy of the Garden's extant works range from 15 to 60 years.

go to Part 2 of the Mission