Greetings!
On a floodplain twenty minutes east of Austin there is a sandlot baseball facility created by architect/artist Jack Sanders called The Long Time. The Long Time is a sandlot mecca, its adherents exemplifying an ethos which privileges individual style, personal expression and camaraderie, while disdaining pretense, "corporate" baseball and, one might suppose, algorithms.
At the Long Time you’ll find hand fabricated versions of standard baseball park accoutrements: dugouts, bleachers, a scoreboard, merchandise stand, and a public address booth. You'll also find children running free, Austin bands performing their own music, vintage clothing stands, cold beer, Liz's strawberry lemonade, good natured announcers, and a coolly contested baseball game. What you won't find are kiss cams, t-shirt cannons, or mascot races. Nothing, in fact, with a hint of spectacle.
"Ahem… what does any of this have to do with The John Fairey Garden?"
Great question! It may not have so much to do with the Garden itself but it can inform our intentions as stewards of the Garden and shapers of our guests' experiences.
The John Fairey Garden has passionate and well educated docents, and past visitors to the Garden have expressed their enjoyment of their docent-led tour, We recognize structured tours are not for everyone, and I can imagine that once one has been on a tour or two, the desire to revisit the garden under those conditions might wane.
This partially prescribed experience doesn't allow one the freedom to wander to where one's interest might lead them, nor the leeway to slow down and spend time just being in the Garden or contemplating one's relationship to it. Potential for personal meaning resides in this relationship, a dormant seed waiting to be watered by attention and consideration. In this consideration, one starts to become familiar with the plants, more aware of seasonal changes in both the plants and the light, sees things not seen before, and perhaps becomes more sensitive to John's design intent. John talked about the garden as a place that heightened all the senses. More time in the garden gives one the opportunity to better experience and appreciate this gift.
I attended a game at the Long Time last Saturday and when it came time for the national anthems (one of the teams was from Saskatchewan, Canada), while everyone in the crowd respectfully stood, an accordion player from the band walked out to the field and played "O' Canada" while the line of Canadian baseball players, baseball caps over their hearts, sang their national anthem. It was one of the sweetest public experiences I've ever had – an experience made possible by an environment and programming thoughtfully created to foster such an experience.
How can The John Fairey Garden foster meaningful experiences? Through attentive and friendly interactions with our guests, by affirming through practice our belief in the intrinsic value of beauty, by allowing our members more time to experience the Garden where and how they choose, at a pace they choose, and by providing educational material such as our new optional audio tour, accessible via smartphone, for those who want to learn more about Garden history and some of the Garden's significant plants.
We want all our guests to have a meaningful experience at The John Fairey Garden. We hope these Members' Open Saturdays will be an incentive for members to visit more frequently and stay longer, enhancing the possibility of a deeper, more rewarding relationship with this extraordinary Garden and cultural landscape.
Warm regards,
