It takes place at north side of Martin Luther King Park (40th and Nicollet Ave) In the winter of 2012 KFNA gathered a group of about a dozen interested
neighbors
of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Their task was to identify
stakeholders in the park, create and distribute a survey to these groups,
and
then, based on these results, draft a vision for a community garden space
at
this park. Approved b
y The Rev. Legacy Council
in
April, KFNA began seeking partners and funding to begin to implement their
vision of a garden where Food, Justice, and Community intersect—a site
where access to land, learning, fresh produce, and opportunities become
available to our entire vibrant and diverse community. This spring KFNA entered into partnership with Project Sweetie Pie, an
organization started in 2011 to
develop neighborhood scattered-site gardens, to seed community activism and
help each community’s youth bring food justice issues forward. Receiving
our
first contribution of funding together in April 2013 from the Morrill
Hall/Rachel Tilsen Fund, both
organizations spent the next three months developing plans and an
agreement to
install the first phase of the garden, nine raised beds, at Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. The beds are intended to mimic KFNA and Southwest
Senior Center’s successful Mosaic Quilting project, also located at King
Park,
and thus the gardens have been named the Mosaic Garden. Like the quilted
mosaic
artwork, the gardens in their independent boxes combine to represent the
various cultures in our community. Built and planted in late July, the Mosaic Gardens have bloomed
beautifully and now occupy a previously underutilized space on the park
site
under the Walldogs “Nicollet Field 1926” mural. The partners have gathered
weekly to hold three Cultural Cafes on the site, to raise awareness of the
new
garden and bring people together to enjoy music, art, and healthy food
from a
variety of cultures. The goals of the garden are to educate youth and
families about growing
food, healthy eating, cultural similarities and differences in
diet and taste, and to demonstrate the diversity of cultures in our
community
and celebrate their shared public space at Rev. We envision this garden will continue to provide opportunities for
dialogues about food and cultural
differences and similarities, as well as for sharing and laughter. In this
interest, we are planning a community-brainstorming event on the evening of
Sept 24, indoors at the park. Light healthy food (hopefully provided by the
Mosaic Garden!) will be provided, but mostly it will be a time for
discussion, for
listening to the community about projects they want to initiate at the
gardens
in the year to come to increase the interaction of Food, Justice,
and Community.
