Projects – Cincinnati Park Board – Butterfly Kite Floral Carpet (2008) in Fountain Square

Butterfly Kite Floral Carpet in Fountain Square (2008)

In anticipation of the Butterflies of China exhibition at Krohn Conservatory, Jan entered a competition for a floral carpet design to be installed for 3 weeks in Fountain Square. She presented a design based on a Chinese kite, building in interactive pathways for the public to engage with the artwork. Her design was chosen, and installed with over 24,000 pots of pansies covering 7000 square feet in just 2 days by staff of the Cincinnati Park Board. The display was sponsored by Procter and Gamble and organized by 3CDC. Jan’s volunteer initiative supported Park Board programming and gave a boost to Butterfly Show attendance which has continued on an upward path through all of her show co-designs 2008 – 2012.

  • Design of the Floral Carpet. Inspiration came from a Chinese paper kite that resembles a butterfly.

  • Mulching the edges of the pansy pots to create a walkway for pedestrians across the artwork

  • Installation nearing completion, there is nothing but sod and mulch that remains to be placed. The general impression is green since the pansies are not yet in bloom. This transformation over the 3 weeks was part of the beauty of the design.

  • The Floral Carpet. The label gives credti to everyone except the artist!

  • The view from the Carew Tower observation deck on the first full day after installation. The colors are still predominantly green. This is about to change…

  • The view from the Westin Hotel restaurant

  • Detail of the mulch path and the developing color

  • Detail of the grass medallions and developing color

  • View from ground level at the fully developed color of the carpet

  • This final day of the carpet shows the total coverage of the blooms, and only the grass provides some patches of green.