Public Sculpture - Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

As a part of the "Wild Art" Exhibition, Colleen created "Turtle Island", a living sculpture. Colleen sought to bring to life, the Iroquois creation story where earth is started on the back of a turtle. She was intrigued to learn that many cultures including India and China also centered around the slow but steady turtle. Passionate about the environment, Colleen also noted the symbolism of the turtle to represent the environmental movement. She created this sculpture specifically for the Children's Garden with an educational message for the children about the need for perseverance in protecting our earth. Community volunteers got to help "plant" water wise succulents that Colleen had selected to further show an understanding of conservation and resources.  Over 200 community members took part in an online contest to name the turtle.  Another 120 voted and selected "Honu", the Hawaiian word for turtle as the turtle's name.  The sculpture was so popular it remained for several months after the original end of the "Wild Art" Exhibition.