Sunflower+ Project Celebrates 12 Years in Old North
Sunflower+ Project and Community Collaboration
This is the 12th year of the Sunflower+ Project in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood. It is located at 1322 Warren Street, 63106. The project began as a winning entry in the Sustainable Land Lab Design competition in the fall of 2012/winter of 2013. The first season began in May of 2013 as the creation of Don Koster of Washington University and myself, representing the Missouri Botanical Garden (MOBOT). MOBOT became the full sponsor of the project by 2015. MOBOT’s Sustainability Division, including the Outdoor Youth Corps has been essential to helping the work continue, while providing learning opportunities for those in the program. MOBOT’s Horticulture and Education Departments have added to the cross-division collaboration.
Equally exciting has been working with artists and farmers in the neighborhood. New Roots Urban Farm, nearby on Hogan Street, has the contract for much of the site maintenance. In the past, we worked with Jamaica Ray, who is a multi-talented artist in the area with commissions for ‘scare crows.’ Another aspect of collaboration has been with St. Louis Public Schools. The project has partnered with Ames VPA, which is in the neighborhood, as well as Mason Elementary, which is an international school located in Clifton Heights. This has yielded painted flags and portraits of bugs based on lessons in sustainability and guidance from their art teachers, all on recycled material.
This year, the site has also been a stop in the Green Jobs Training Program of Employment Connection, in partnership with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Shantel Towns is their dedicated Program Manager.
The Project as Neighborhood Asset
While the Sunflower+ Project’s working and volunteer partnerships are notable, what’s most important is the pleasure and value it brings to our Old North neighbors.
Robert and Rose Green, artists and activists in the area, helped with the site in its first spring and have enjoyed it ever since. “When my wife Rose and I first volunteered to help clear that vacant, contaminated lot, we didn’t know you were planting more than sunflowers—you were planting hope. We were among the very first to dig through the glass, rocks, and debris, reclaiming a space that had been written off. To see those sunflowers bloom year after year has been like watching the neighborhood breathe again. You called it the Sunflower Project, but to us it became art in nature’s form—beauty and healing growing out of a place once forgotten. Every summer, when those bright yellow faces turn to the sun, we feel a sense of rebirth, not just for Old North Saint Louis, but for ourselves too,” said Mr. Green.
Jessica Payne is a long-time Old North resident, and she had this to say, “I think the sunflower lot has brought a lot of value to the neighborhood. Not just through beautification, it’s been a really great example of a continued long lasting partnership in our neighborhood, which can be hard to find in areas that have been through what Old North has experienced over the decades. I’ve really appreciated seeing something different every year. It’s not the same thing. Every year, everyone’s always, like, what will the design concept be? And it’s just provided a space where the community can come and walk around. People walk their dogs here, take pictures here, just use it as part of their day, as a place that’s not concrete, not vacant buildings, but a lot that’s well-maintained and adds a little bit of beauty to a corner. I will add, too, the new building (a live/work Doctor’s Office) which shares the southern border with the sunflowers, one of the main reasons they chose the location was due to the sunflower lot to their north and an arch view to the south. It helped us bring a new doctor to the neighborhood.”
There is still time to enjoy the blooms as the flowers begin going to seed and draw the goldfinches. While there, be sure to peruse the other neighborhood amenities on 14th Street between the sunflowers and Crown Candy Kitchen.
