Flowers blooming in the Craft Garden

Craft Garden

The Craft Garden started in 2003 as a collaboration among artists, community members and gardeners. Today, the plants in the garden are divided into four sections: baskets, textiles, dyes and papers. In the Craft Garden, you will discover the craft process–from planting to the production of materials. Some of our resident artists use the garden as a space for site-specific installations, to harvest materials for their artwork, or to lead workshops that use garden materials. Our education programs and craft camps also incorporate materials from the garden in various making projects. Because growing seasons differ for each plant, we encourage visitors to experience our garden at different times of the year.

The Craft Garden is an affiliate garden with Urban Harvest. Urban Harvest is a nonprofit organization, whose mission is to create thriving communities and increase access to fresh and local food. Their Community Gardens program provides resources and education to over 140 affiliate gardens, supporting communities in growing their own food and creating sustainable greenspaces. Their goal is to connect and support long-lasting gardens that will provide for their communities for years to come. Even though the Craft Garden’s main focus is not on growing edible foods, it features plants that are shared with the community through HCCC’s public programs and resident artists. Plus, our garden includes blueberries, pecans, bananas, roselle, and more–all of which are edible!

Complementing the Craft Garden is HCCC’s rooftop beehive. Managed by a beekeeper from the local Bee2Bee Honey Collective, our beehive is full of bees that support the many flowering plants featured in the Craft Garden (and other area gardens), as they gather nectar and pollen for the production of honey. Beyond pollinating gardens and landscaping, honeybees are a key fixture of our ecology and essential to a number of agricultural crops.