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Hundreds Help Create Sustainable Art Exhibit at Mead Gardens

Staff Report

A legion of creative volunteers gave their time and talents for an immersive exhibit honoring Winter Park Chamber's centennial. Photos by: Abigail Waters

Nearly 400 volunteers gathered at Mead Botanical Garden on Saturday, Jan. 21, to build an immersive experience that will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.

The event, dubbed Gather & Grow Day, supported the creation of a multi-space exhibit, titled FunHundred!, which is made entirely of found and sustainable items donated by residents, schools and businesses.

A variety of donated items were transformed into art pieces during Winter Park Chamber’s Gather & Grow Day at Mead Botanical Garden.
A butterfly wings installation made of water bottles is among the art pieces that guests will see when the exhibit opens next month.

The exhibit will span six garden areas for a period of six-months, beginning with the grand opening on Saturday, Feb, 4. Each garden is named for its respective theme: opportunity, dreams, knowledge, community, discovery and prosperity.

FunHundred! presenting sponsor, Full Sail University, enlisted its community volunteer initiative, Pure Motivation, to assist with the art creation and logistical needs during Gather & Grow Day. A team of Full Sail faculty and students is also building an 8-foot-long manatee sculpture to be featured within the exhibit.

“For decades, we at Full Sail have been proud to call Winter Park our home,” said Full Sail University President Garry Jones. “We are honored to collaborate with the Chamber as they celebrate 100 years of service to this great community during the FunHundred!”

“Who better to partner with than Full Sail University, which brings creativity, endless ideas and a full embrace of possibilities to everything it touches,” said Chamber CEO Betsy Gardner Eckbert.

When complete, FunHundred! will be open to the public with more than 40,000 visitors expected to tour its gardens. Other planned events in honor of the Chamber’s centennial will include:

See the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce calendar for more information on upcoming events.

No item was too big or small to be transformed into art. Volunteers are shown adorning dumpsters with bright murals of natural scenery.
Tennis balls are painted for exhibits in the Garden of Dreams area.
Michael Chery, Leah Chery, Letizia DiLuca, Maria Machado and Toaria Goodwin were among the volunteers transforming tennis balls into art.
More then 400 volunteers collaborated and cooperated to make the exhibit a reality.
Even newspaper boxes found new life at the hands of volunteers in the Garden of Knowledge.
Not all of the materials are man-made as wood, rocks, and other natural objects were painted for use in the exhibit.
Olivia Cheek and her dad, Zac, grandmother, Gail Schmidt, mom, Laurie, and brother, Alexander, helped to paint rocks.
Students and faculty from Full Sail University’s Pure Motivation volunteer initiative also gave their time and talents for the project.