Butterfly Garden dedication set for May 22

(From the City of Joplin)

Completing the goal to provide a healing space for the community, representatives of the Landscapes of Resilience Butterfly Garden and Overlook project in Cunningham Park will dedicate and gift this project to the community on Thursday, May 22, 2014. The dedication will begin at 5:30 p.m. on May 22 and the public is invited to attend and tour the new garden. More details will be provided as they are finalized.

The Butterfly Garden and Overlook was announced during the program of the second anniversary event recognizing the community’s resilience, resolve and realization throughout the recovery work since May 22, 2011. It is a partnership project of Joplin Parks Recreation Department, the TKF Foundation, Wal-Mart Foundation, Cornell University, U.S. Forest Service, Drury University, the Missouri Department of Conservation, Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, Great River Associates, and TILL Design.

Stories of courage, heroism and resilience are included in this healing garden at Cunningham Park and are included in one of four elements in the TKF Foundation’s Open Spaces Sacred Places (OSSP) initiative. The Foundation’s OSSP fosters natural settings for the public in helping them cope with stress and burdens resulting from disasters.

“The community has been through so much since May 2011, yet they have been a vital part of this project,” said Traci Sooter, Director of Design/Build at Drury University. “This is our opportunity to give back to all who have been affected and who have helped through this past year. We want everyone to visit and experience the healing elements incorporated into the overlook and garden.”

The project was funded through the TKF Foundation which provided Joplin and New York City a portion of a $585,000 grant to each community in order to create an open space in recovery and healing. A multi-disciplinary research and design team proposed the “Landscapes of Resilience” project that will study the role of open spaces in recovery from both the Joplin 2011 tornado and Superstorm Sandy that hit New York City and surrounding area, killing 72 people and causing extensive damage in October 2012.