Makerspaces: Aotearoa New Zealand: Pop des Fleurs Winter Pop-up Garden: We Popped!

Tuesday, 29 March 2016

Pop des Fleurs Winter Pop-up Garden: We Popped!

by Suzy Waldo

We did it! And it was spectacular.

The community response was phenomenal. I watched so many people pull over just to take pictures of my branch. It was such a pleasure telling them (and seeing their surprise) that were 16 more libraries where they could see installations. The Instagram hashtag “popdesfleurs” blew up with flower selfies. Friends all over the country were sending me photos that they found on Facebook. It’s been extraordinary. Honestly, if you look at the pictures you can see that it’s kind of irresistible. Bright, cheery flowers, gloomy Pittsburgh winter? Excellent.

I wrote about some challenges I had during the project in my last post. Once the installations were scheduled and then finished, it was smooth sailing. I most certainly just cursed myself by saying that, but I can’t think of one problem we had with the final installations. Our volunteers came through with enthusiasm, our community partners and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh staff were tireless. The fact that everyone wants to do it again next year is a good sign (or everyone is simply crazy.)

Now that we have one under our belt, I’m thinking BIGGER.

Some ideas so far: Butterflies, cranes, more flowers, insects, Pittsburgh-themed projects, covering the buildings in knit and crochet…anything is possible! We are home to world-renowned museums, Phipps Conservatory, the National Aviary, the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium and a boatload of other potential partners. It’s going to be a great year!

A huge thanks to the Colcom Foundation for their generous support. Thank you to the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh for partnering with Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Thank you to the people of Pittsburgh for embracing this project and volunteering your time. Thank you to the neighborhood groups, community partners, schools, senior centers and crochet groups for makings thousands of flowers. Thank you to my amazing colleagues who spent so much time making this project happen. And finally thank you to Delli Speers and Jennifer Holliman- your enthusiasm and creativity kept me going when I was drowning in plastic bags!

Suzy Waldo is the Library Services Manager at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh-South Side, which is her dream job. She’s left-handed, loves symmetry, presents, bike-riding and bacon. She hates birds. Her favorite books are The Life of Pi by Yann Martel and Microserfs by Douglas Coupland. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and has worked for Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh since 2004.