Your (Un)Natural Garden
Artist Adam Schwerner asked visitors to please touch the art.
Installations at the Sturt Haaga Gallery, Boddy House, and throughout the landscape intrigued visitors’ senses and invited participation. Archways, created with found materials, led to the art gallery and house. Once there, guests explored rooms full of surprises — from hundreds of bells playing to feather boas hanging from the ceiling.
The exhibition was produced in collaboration with JUST Design, Art Mafia, and Pink Sparrow.
About the artist Adam Schwerner
As the son of two artists, I have lived with and around artmaking since I was a child.
I have always been fascinated by the tension I perceive between the natural and manmade. Where does one begin and the other end? My work interrogates this boundary and invites visitors to engage and participate in this dance; the back and forth between nature and human-made. The pursuit of this life-long conversation has led to a desire to create large scale accessible public art. Sometimes unsettling and provocative, my work can leave patrons angry, annoyed, happy, excited, and often curious. Ultimately, I aim to provide opportunities for those who engage with my work to experience something new, perhaps, challenging. I bring questions to be both asked and answered.
As my individual career as an artist began to gain momentum, I was given the opportunity to create and facilitate a series of site-specific art installations throughout the city of Chicago as Director of the Chicago Park District’s multidisciplinary Department of Cultural and Natural Resources. My team and I put into place an initiative to develop bold and inclusive public art works within Chicago’s city parks.
Since Chicago, I have continued working at the intersection of art and horticulture. I created a significant series of installations for the Atlanta Botanical Garden entitled, “The Curious Garden.” This exhibit contained eleven site specific installations built in response to the history, pursuits, and scientific research of that great institution.
Since 2014, I have worked at Disneyland as the Director of Horticulture and Resort Enhancement for the Resort. I also work to foster arts engagement as a member of the Laguna Beach Arts Commission and strive to provide community-centric art that is approachable and surprising.
Thank you to our sponsors
Erin and Richard Atwater
Stephanie and Leo Dencik
The Flashdance
Freeman Group, Inc.
Laura and Mark Furey
Heather and Paul Haaga
Annette and Dale Hanks
Lovell H. Holder
Britney Holthouser
Victoria and Michael Hooks
Lola James Kelly and John Taylor
Jane and Douglas Krech
Amy and David Lamb
Margaret Leong and Michael Checca
Kay and David Linden
Lucia and Ben Logan
Sandra Mays and John Marshall
Melissa and Craig Mazin
Ann and Peter Murphy
Pacific Opera Project
Blythe Haaga Parker and Tyler Parker
Patricia and William Pinney
Katie and Chris Poole
Marie Queen
Susan R. Redpath
Suzanne Roberts and Wayne Kaufman
Juliann and Andy Rooke
Vicki and Brad Schwartz
Linda and Peter Segal
Marie Song
San Gabriel Nursery & Florist
Karen and Nicholas Taylor
Lynn and Donald Voss
Mitzi and James Walters