The Art Garden
The greenspace located across from the PCA&D campus, was imagined in 2003 when the College proposed the area as a temporary art garden.
The city owned the plot of land until 2012 when the College purchased it. It has hosted a number of art installations, College and continuing education classes, community events, and is a Music for Everyone piano site.
2022
The Art Garden hosts a new community gardening effort with raised-bed gardens planted with vegetables, herbs, and flowers, in a joint project between the city police Office of Community Engagement and The Mix, a Lancaster city non-profit organization that provides students with resources and activities to excel in the classroom and beyond.
2020
The Art Garden became a pivotal forum to amplify community voices during the Black Lives Matter movement. We are heartened to see our Art Garden play a vital role in the larger community’s efforts to amplify voices, to affirm the Black Lives Matter movement, and to highlight the need for systemic change.
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2018
Noting that the park was still greatly lacking art, the College added a silver ampersand as a symbol of “forging, building, and deepening connections.” The ampersand, which stands about 10 feet tall, was built for PCA&D President Michael Molla’s inauguration.
2014
After years of discussing the park’s purpose at city council meetings, designers Gail Anderson and Joe Newton created the 60-foot Create/Influence sculpture as the first permanent art installation in the College’s Art Garden. The sculpture is constructed on the side of a city-owned wall and reads “influence” or “create,” depending on the viewer’s perspective.
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2012
The College purchased the lot from the city in September of 2012 (thanks to a generous gift by philanthropists and artists Suzanne and Ronald Schrotberger) in order to continue to preserve the space for College activities as well as a holding space for future development needs of PCA&D.
“The Art Garden was imagined as a place for ‘convocation’, creative gatherings to engage the Lancaster Community,” college President Michael Molla said in an email.
The College chose not to brand the park with its own name but instead decided to allow the space as a place for art that exemplified the College’s mission to create.
In this year also, Occupy Lancaster would return to the Art Garden to protest the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act.
2011
The Art Garden became a prime location for the Occupy Lancaster movement, with protesters calling for an end to corporate greed. The Occupy movement spread globally in 2011 in opposition to social and economic equality. Protesters camped in the park for more than three months.
2003
The College proposed creating an Art Garden as a temporary beautification effort for the 12,000-square-foot space, both as a way to be more welcoming and as a green space for city residents and the College community to enjoy. Located on the corner of Prince and Chestnut streets in the heart of Lancaster City, grass and trees were added, as well as seating and tables to enliven the city’s arts and cultural district.