Winchester Gardens’ Environmental Committee recently partnered with New Jersey activist and artist Anne Dushanko Dobek, whose work combines art, science, and social commentary, to create an art installation project of butterflies, meant to draw attention to the environment and the effects of climate change and human behavior on pollinators.
Jackie Herships, a member of the Winchester Gardens Environmental Committee, said it is important for the community to understand that pollinators are dying off and what a threat that poses to the food supply because “many people still don’t have a clue it is even happening.”
“In fact, a big piece of our existence depends upon our fixing it,” Herships said.
The project with Dushanko Dobrek was three-fold: First she gave a presentation to residents, then she came back with painted butterflies that resident volunteers help to cut out for the installation then she installed them in the main hall and in a garden on the grounds at Winchester Gardens.
From left: Winchester Gardens residents Rosemary Guttormsson, Joyce Rannestad and Elaine Goldman with some created butterflies before installation. (Photo by Jackie Herships)
“The butterflies are there to stimulate discussion. They are symbolic of all pollinators … bees, bats, birds, moths, and other creatures which transfer pollen from one plant to another enabling them to grow and flourish and bear fruit,” Herships said in a piece she wrote for the Winchester Gardens activity director’s newsletter after so many residents started asking about the butterflies. “I have read that 1/3 of our food supply is dependent upon pollinators. But, if we keep spraying as we do here, to retain what we think of as our beautiful pristine lawns and garden beds, we will ultimately destroy the very fabric of life which supports our own lives. We really must change our way of thinking.”
Herships told the Village Green that the “the main idea for us is that we need to change our thinking to support native plants and not think of them as weeds. Plants such as dandelions and milkweed are our friends. They are critical to the survival of bees and butterflies which themselves are critical to our own survival.”
Activist and artist Anne Dushanko Dobek installing painted butterflies in one of the gardens at Winchester Gardens. (Photo by Jackie Herships)
According to Dushanko Dobek’s website, the artist has created other artworks using butterflies in Eurpoe and the United States, which she has called “Parallel Migrations,” referencing “personal, spiritual and/or physical journeys.” As part of those installations, she has used her “signature” image of the Monarch butterfly as trail markers leading to a sculpture incorporating found and/or recycled objects partially camouflaged with butterflies.
The artist showing residents how to create butterflies for the installation project. (Photo courtesy Jackie Herships)
In her newsletter piece, Herships also advocated for planting more native plants, not using poisonous weed killers and bringing beehives to the grounds.
“Here at Winchester Gardens, we have an opportunity to demonstrate sustainable living practices. Bees are now being called the most important creature on the planet. What if we had some beehives?” she wrote. “…We have an opportunity here in microcosm to demonstrate what it would be like to live sustainably, without the use of carcinogenic poisons to keep the ‘weeds’ under control. We have an opportunity here to support our native trees, and to support the native plants which support the pollinators and the insects they feed upon. We are already composting in the kitchen – let’s expand our efforts to the grounds, stop spraying and support our native plants.”
Afterward, Herships said she hopes the project has the intended impact and “will make some difference in the way this community regards its gardens and lawns and their relationship to pollinators.”
Residents helped cut out the painted butterflies for the art installation project. (Photo by Jackie Herships)
Winchester Gardens employees also took part. Here, artist Anne Dushanko Dobek is with Winchester bar manager Deven Bagley. (Photo by Jackie Herships)
