On display in indoor sites and window spaces throughout Davis Square June 25 - July 25, 1999

Image of gardener Cynthia Gilman as photographed by Laura Wulf.

Creating Eden explores fifteen of Somerville's most extraordinary gardens and the lives of their creators. This interdisciplinary exhibit, consisting of 200 photographs and fifteen literary portraits, celebrates our community's generous nature, urban character, rich history and cultural diversity.

Walk down any street in Somerville and you are sure to see a flourishing garden tucked tightly between the asphalt driveways and vinyl-sided houses. Perhaps it boasts the city's champion dahlias, or the best tasting tomatoes. Or maybe an assortment of healing Chinese herbs or a collection of ornamental grasses. The physical layout of the garden, the selection of plants, the intangible mood of the place tell the story of a gardener who has shaped this space to express a personal vision of paradise.

click here for a link to the concurrent exhibition "Growing in the City"

"Creating Eden" is funded in part by a grant from