While many students buzz along Gale Lemerand Drive as they make their way to class, few may give a second glance to the shady oaks that conceal UF's Wilmot Gardens.
What was once one of the largest camellia gardens in the country became lost in the university's landscape but has recently become the focus of a new Art in the Gardens program.
Shands Arts in Medicine in partnership with UF's College of Medicine began hosting art, music and meditation programs, which are free and open to the public, in January at the renovated Wilmot Gardens.
The mission and renovation of the garden is to expose and engage Shands patients and community members to the arts in many different ways, said Kris Sullivan, the Shands Arts in Medicine program coordinator.
The five-acre site behind Shands Medical Plaza houses a weekly flora and fauna art series on Wednesdays, where patients work with local artists to create their own art. The program also hosts weekly meditation series on Tuesdays offering tai chi, chi kung and yoga as well as a monthly musical performance series.
Eleanor Blair, a local artist and longtime Shands Arts in Medicine volunteer, feels a small venue such as the Wilmot Gardens helps her inspire people to do their own creative work.
"A lot of volunteers work with patients in their rooms, but sometimes the families need as much or more care than the person who is sick," Blair said. "The healing garden is a wonderful place for the whole family to take some time, take a deep breath and remember what's good about life."
The gardens, known for its camellia and azalea blooms, date back to the 1940s but became overgrown by invasive, exotic species, and the oak scrub landscape as UF grew and forgot it.
Since late 2006, volunteers have cleared the garden and planted new camellias and azalea, progressing toward a new vision for the Wilmot Gardens that include features such as a waterfall and water garden, secret garden, reflecting pool and sculpture court.
"We'd like to see students studying, reading, relaxing and staff and physicians to take a walk and get away from everything in their day," said Linda Luecking, the UF Wilmot Gardens project coordinator. "We want the university to want to use that space as a green space."
UF set aside $40,000 in 2006 to help restore the Wilmot Gardens.
Shands Arts in Medicine was one of only four statewide applicants to receive a Culture Builds Florida grant for $25,000 from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
