After nearly two years of planning, the Fallen Fruit of Columbus parks were planted in late April—the day after Earth Day in Weinland Park and this past weekend on the South Side. Volunteers came out in droves to help dig and plant, and to set up picnic tables inscribed with messages from neighborhood archives (and, on the South Side, to install painted planters that had been moved from their longtime perches along Parsons Avenue).

A special dedication event on the South Side on Saturday—moved into the nearby Reeb Center due to threat of rain—featured guest speakers (with Wex Director Sherri Geldin playing “emcee”), along with Jeni’s ice cream and a diverse crowd of neighborhood residents, city officials, arts leaders, members of the business and philanthropic communities, and individuals focused on access to healthy food (from Columbus and Cleveland).

“All of my colleagues have been very excited about this project,” said City Councilmember Jaiza Page, calling out in particular fellow Councilmember Shannon Hardin, who grew up on the South Side. “This is just one of the many steps to really revitalize the South Side.” She also expressed her concerns about children who suffer from food insecurity, and that thanks to the fruit parks—which provide a variety of fresh fruit, ripening at different times of the year and available for the picking—“We’ll have healthy children, which creates healthy families, which creates healthy neighborhoods, which creates a healthy city.”

Artist David Burns, who conceived Fallen Fruit with fellow Los Angeles artist Austin Young—and who together worked with the Wexner Center to spearhead the parks in Columbus—said that our city’s fruit trees will be productive for “40, 50 years, no question.” He noted that the initial idea for their global project was inspired the question, “Who has the right to fruit that exists on the margins of public space?” (citing Leviticus as the source of the phrase Fallen Fruit). He pointed out that that an effort of this magnitude takes “everyone to be involved” and that “this community did that with open hearts.”

And South Side civic leader Bob Leighty summed it up succinctly, with an exuberant: “We have a fruit park!!”

We hope you'll visit the parks in the coming months and years, at 4th Street and 11th Avenue in Weinland Park, and at Reeb Avenue and South Washington on the South Side. And many thanks again to the 70 donors who donated to Fallen Fruit via Buckeye Funder! Those still interested in contributing to the long-term maintenance of these parks can click here: http://go.osu.edu/FallenFruitCBUS (and denote Fallen Fruit in the “special instructions” box).

Caption for image below (all images except "thank you" picture by Katie Spengler): Clockwise from top left: Planting at the South Side plot; South Side neighborhood leader Bob Leighty, at the inauguration of the South Side Fruit Park; Fallen Fruit artists Austin Young and David Burns; Columbus City Councilmember Jaiza Page; Wexner Center Director Sherri Geldin; and Shelly Casto, the Wex's director of education.

It's almost here! Planting begins April 23 at the Weinland Park Berry Patch and will continue next weekend at the South Side Fruit Park on April 29. This morning's edition of The Columbus Dispatch features an in-depth look at the Fallen Fruit artists and their project in Columbus.

Click here to read the story. 

Thank you to the 70 donors who helped us exceed our goal for the Fallen Fruit of Columbus campaign! We were thrilled to see such an enthusiastic response to this project, and although our giving page is no longer active, you can still give to this project. If you would like to provide any additional support to our campaign, please do so here. Don’t forget—the installation at the Wex is up in our lobby through May 7!

Please save the date for the Fallen Fruit planting days on April 23rd at Weinland Park and on April 29th at the South Side plot. To volunteer or to learn more, contact Jean Pitman at (614) 292-4614 or jpitman@wexarts.org.

Following the April 29th planting, there will be a celebration for the community, including refreshments from Jeni’s Ice Cream and Tatoheads Food Truck. The event begins at 2:00 at the park (located at South Washington and Reeb Avenues) and is free and open to the public. Watch for an email invitation for more details.

We hope you can join us and the Fallen Fruit artists to celebrate what’s growing in our community!

With 2 days to go, an agricultural expert—and a Fallen Fruit artist—weigh in. 

Fallen Fruit of Columbus is more than just a project for the community: it is truly a project by the community. Campus and citywide partnerships have been invaluable to the planning and execution of this project. We recently spoke with Ohio State Extension Educator and Associate Professor Mike Hogan about the maintenance and sustainability of the parks for a piece on the Wex blog.

And check out a feature by Columbus Neighborhoods that highlights the Fallen Fruit installation in the Wex and presents the artists’ perspectives on the overall project. Notes artist Austin Young, “We like to make art that creates relationships or creates community….I think fruit is an incredible symbol of a gift and abundance and sharing, and the idea of sharing things in a public space….And then I think there’s something here about beauty.”

There is still time to donate! We have two more days to reach our stretch goal of $10,000. Please consider supporting this initiative—and pass it on!

Our partnership with OSU students emphasizes the mutual investment that campus and the Columbus community have in each other. Students from Ohio State’s Knowlton School of Architecture (pictured below) have helped us plan and mark our plots.

An exciting part of the Fallen Fruit of Columbus project is an installation created specifically for the Wex by David Allen Burns and Austin Young. The installation in the Wex lobby consists of a custom wallpaper—inspired by flowers and plants growing on fences and gates in Columbus—and photographs of Columbus in our community’s earliest days of development, discovered in the archives at the Ohio History Center and placed in frames found in local antique and thrift shops.

This beautiful installation is just one of the many components to Fallen Fruit of Columbus, which artist David Allen Burns called "a real standout project" during a talk with the Wex staff. We are still taking donations through Buckeye Funder now until March 31. With your help to reach our new $10,000 goal, we will be able to provide for the long-term maintenance and sustainability of these parks, in addition to providing stipends for the neighborhood youth involved with the project.

Last week, the artists and the Wex’s exhibition team were busy with the install, and the time-lapse video below shows the amazing transformation that took place in our lobby. The installation will be at the Wex now until the beginning of May, so see it before it's gone!

Thanks to 55 donors so far, we’ve exceeded our initial goal for our Buckeye Funder campaign for Fallen Fruit of Columbus! The campaign is still active—which means you can still contribute $5 or more through the end of March. Bolstered by the ever-growing support and enthusiasm for Fallen Fruit of Columbus, we are now aiming to reach $10,000 to ensure the long-term sustainability of the parks. 

Donations that help us reach our new goal of $10,000 will be used for the installation, maintenance, and sustainability of these parks, in addition to providing stipends to neighborhood youth involved with the project. Located in public spaces with unique gardening specifications, both parks will require attention and ongoing maintenance to keep them beautiful, clean, and healthy for many years to come, and our “stretch” goal will help them survive and thrive over the long term. 

This project represents the ever-growing strength of the Columbus and Ohio State communities, and we are overjoyed by the contributions we have received for our project. Thank you for your continued support! 

Below: Related Fallen Fruit wallpaper installation at the Wexner Center. (Photo courtesy of Marisa Espe)

We are overwhelmed and thrilled by the support we have received for our project so far! On behalf of our community partners, the Wex wishes to thank all those who have donated to the Fallen Fruit of Columbus project. We are excited for the next phase of our campaign, but we aren’t finished yet! 

Although we have reached our goal, we are still accepting donations for the project through Buckeye Funder and will continue to do so until March 31. Please stay tuned for updates in the coming days about how your continued support can keep the goodness growing. Next week, the Wex will be “rolling out” an exciting element of the project that we can’t wait to share with you. 

Thank you again to everyone who is helping to make our campus and Columbus communities more beautiful, inside and out! 

(Photo courtesy of Fallen Fruit)

The sun is a little brighter and the days are a little longer, so we know that spring is on its way—which means we’re getting ready to start planting! We can’t wait to break ground on the Fallen Fruit Berry Patch in Weinland Park on April 23 and the fruit park on the South Side on April 29—but first, we want to thank all our friends and supporters of this project. Because of you, we have raised almost 70% of our goal in less than a week. Community partnerships continue to be vital to the success of this project.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Wexner Center and Fallen Fruit and others on this wonderful project in South Columbus,” says Bob Leighty, executive director of the Parson Avenue Merchants Association. “The South Side’s new fruit park will be a special gathering place for young and old alike, where we can enjoy fresh fruit and build meaningful relationships with our families and friends.”

And Evelyn Van Til, of 4th Street Farms in Weinland Park and a resident of the neighborhood, notes, “The Berry Patch is a great example of organizations collaborating and adding more of what is working in Weinland Park: listening to residents and transforming vacant corners into green spaces where we can gather, pick fruit, share conversations, get to know neighbors, and connect our community.”

Together with our partners, the Wex and L.A.-based Fallen Fruit artists David Burns and Allen Young have been busy with coordinating the many details to make it all possible. We have measured every inch of our plots and hand-selected each variety of fruit that will be planted in our communities. After all this preparation, we have calculated Fallen Fruit of Columbus by the numbers, and here is what we found:

• Weinland Park will contain…
  • 3 varieties each of strawberries, red raspberries, and blueberries
  • 2 varieties of aronias (or chokeberries)
  • elderberries, red gooseberries, and blackberries
• South Side will contain…
  • 6 varieties of apples
  • 2 varieties each of pawpaws, Asian pears, and quince
  • 4 varieties each of pears and plums
  • 3 varieties of apricots
  • 5 varieties of cherries
  • 22 varieties of grapes
• Fallen Fruit founders Burns and Young have helped more than 30 communities around the world create public fruit parks.
• The Wex is collaborating with more than a dozen community partners to make Fallen Fruit of Columbus possible.
• A group of 6 students from Ohio State’s Knowlton School of Architecture have helped us map and plan our plots.
• As part of the Fallen Fruit wallpaper and object installation in Heirloom Café, the artists have collected 153 objects to create a one-of-a-kind artwork at the Wex.

Also:

• In a 150-year lifespan, public fruit trees serve the community by removing 457 lbs. of pollutants from the air and 39 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere (United States Forestry Service)
• In 40 years, 150 fruit trees will accrue a $108,000 return for the city and neighborhood (United States Forestry Service)

Just as every drop of water matters to our plants, every dollar donated matters to our project. Any amount you can give will help! We graciously ask our campus and community friends to consider contributing to this initiative, one that will nourish our city for years to come.

(Photo courtesy of Fallen Fruit)