The Parts & Parcel of “Earthly Coat”

All of the final design elements are in place, the coat has been properly landscaped with mulch, the signage is up, and now we are just awaiting the public opening this Saturday, June 2. With great relief I can say that the coat has survived two mega nasty rain/wind storms in fine form. In fact, the bad weather seemed to enhance the felting!

You will locate the coat next to this signage for the exhibit. As you can see, Earthly Coat is number 7 on the trail of “Dirt-O-Rama” art exhibits and informational features that focus on the soil.

There has been great media interest in the exhibit. I encourage you to go to my Facebook page (see link to right) and you will get links to some of the media stories and a few early peeks of the coat too! (In exchange for the early peek, please “Like” me on Facebook!)

During the installation, many Arboretum visitors came up the hill to see what the coat was all about. I especially treasure one comment from a seasoned summer exhibition visitor who said she thought that “Earthly Coat” is the best summer installation she has seen to date. I am humbled by the praise and grateful to have such a marvelous reaction after the many months of hard work. Thanks to all!

Next post: The Great Reveal! For now, I have some fun for you…

My intention with this blog and the exhibit is to make this experience be educational and fun for everyone so, with that in mind, here is a little game you can play when you come out to visit the coat:

Find It! – on Earthly Coat
Different plants and other soil life found at the MN Landscape Arboretum are depicted on the panels of “Earthly Coat.” Here is a list of the panels by group—not in order on the coat. I challenge you to bring this list (to print it, you may find it easiest to copy and paste the list into a text file), bring it to the exhibit, and find the correct coat panel that contains each group. Some items are artistically represented on the coat in their actual size and some are much larger, in relation to the size of the coat. This will be a test of how well you know the life of soil (and how well I managed to artistically depict them on the coat!). I’m sure that over time the coat will naturally lose its details due to the elements so visit it soon to find all of these items!

EXTERIOR PANELS:

Blood Root
Great Blazing Star
Blood Root
Great Blazing Star
Wood Frog (this is a Lucky Frog so make a wish in front of him!)
Rudbeckia
A stick
Lily
Ash Tree Seed
False Solomon’s Seal
Goldenrod
Pine Cone
—
Morning Glory
Dahlia
Coneflowers – purple & yellow
Rose
Lily of the Valley
Maple Leaf
Black-eyed Susan
Bellflower
—
Dandelion
Poppy
Blueberries
Cosmos
Daisy
Tulip
Dusty Miller
Iris
Oak Leaf
Aster
Verbena
—
Clematis
Mushroom
Butterfly Weed
Cardinal Flower
Compass Plant
Birch Leaf
Fern
—
Trillium
Moss Rose
Ant
Sunflower
Cornflower
Blanket Flower
Cleome
Grapes
—
Lady Slipper
Lupine
Marigold
Hydrangea
Crab Apple
Flax
Acorn
Daffodil
—
Scilla
Trumpet Vine
Ground Squirrel
Strawberries
Peony
Daisy
Cat Tail
—
Crocus
Dahlia
Fleabane
Poppy
Geranium
Rose

INTERIOR PANELS–children will especially love to identify these…
Ants
Worms
Snakes
Seeds
Stones
Moles
Bulbs
Roots

Enjoy finding the parts of the parcel of “Earthly Coat!”

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For those of you who have read this post to the end, you are being rewarded with a preview of the coat panel art…

One last note before I leave this week’s post…

Please help to respect the coat and don’t allow your children or other children to climb, pull on the coat, or throw things at it. I’ve already watched this happening and it makes me and the coat very sad. Thanks for helping to respect the coat, the effort of its creation, and what it represents: our rich, life-giving earthly coat – the Soil!

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