The dramatic new sculpture at the Motiva Apartments (a new 354-unit apartment development) was celebrated there last weekend among dignitaries and community art-lovers. A plaque was unveiled explaining that the sculpture, called “Beauty in a Garden Comes from More than One Flower,” was created by Erwin Timmers and the Washington Glass Studio, with community participants. The work was commissioned by the owners of Motiva, “with support from the City of Greenbelt.” The budget was $35,000.

The design turns poetry into sculpture, with special plants

The artwork serves as a placemarker that enlivens the Motiva Greenbelt complex and surrounding area. It portrays a flower with two curved green stems bearing abstract blossoms.

The sculpture was inspired by “Sweet William’s Farewell to Black-ey’d Susan: A Ballad” written by English poet John Gay in 1720. It’s about a young maiden named Blackeyed Susan who boards a ship that’s docked in harbor looking for lover, Sweet William. “It is thought that the name of the state flower of Maryland originated with this
ballad. Sweet William is a European flower that has very similar blooming times as the black-eyed Susan and they are often grown together.” (Source: Nicole Dewald in the Greenbelt News Review.)

The artist

Erwin Timmers, a founding member of the Washington Glass Studio based in Mt. Rainier, is known for his focus on recycled and sustainable materials and practices and has been awarded over 30 commissions in his career. He’s been recognized by the James Renwick Alliance for excellence in the craft field for his use of recycled glass and attentiveness to environmental issues.”

How it was made

The sculpture was constructed with powder-coated steel and inset panels of recycled bottle glass, which has an interesting story. A local distillery, after losing its lease and going out of business, had a shipping container full of custom bottles it could no longer use and offered them to Timmers.

The bottles were crushed by participants in three community workshops at Washington Glass Studio and fused in a kiln. Timmers explained that flattened pie-shaped pieces of glass were given to the participants, who were asked to create nature-related designs on them, either floral or abstract. They used stencils and colored powders to create designs on the clear glass, which was then refired to fuse the colors onto the glass and also to flatten it more.

“We ended up with a beautiful number of panels,” he told us at the dedication event, though it “took a while to get them all arranged and cut to size.” He has some extra panels to turn over to Motiva in case one is damaged somehow.

The 28 community members who participated in the making of the piece included residents of Motiva and the broader community, as well as staff from both Motiva and the City of Greenbelt participating on their own time. Present at the dedication ceremony were at least two participants – Mayor Pro Tem Kristen Weaver and artist Jan Morrow.

(The photos above and below are from an update on this project on the Washington Glass Studio website, used with permission.)

The modest language in the dedication plaque reveals that the whole project came together largely thanks to Greenbelt’s beloved Recreation Arts Program, which “facilitated it with support from our Dept of Planning and Community Development.” Facilitating included coordinating the artist selection process with public input, participating in contract development and coordinating the community workshops at WGS – which is a lot.

More inspiration from Motiva’s landscape

Timmers has said that the inspiration for his nature-inspired design comes from the Motiva complex’s natural surroundings and the environment, with native Black-Eyed Susans, asters, and more. “Just as wildflowers need diversity to make a healthy eco-system, so do people.”

And more views of Motiva

It was my first visit to Motiva, so I looked around and was wow’d by the common facilities, like these. See more on Motiva’s website.