Grande Prairie's 'garden of hope' provides peaceful space to remember children who are gone
A family of geese wearing whimsical costumes march through a tiny park tucked into a space near a playground. Nearby, two bronze bears hold the edges of a huge, hollow heart.
The statues are part of the Blossoming Garden of Hope, set to open in Grande Prairie, Alta., next week after almost six years of planning. It will be a place for people who have lost little loved ones to grieve and remember.
"Many times people don't know where to go or what to do if they don't have that positive space to grieve and honour and remember and celebrate," said Karen Gilkyson, co-founder of Tiny Hands of Hope, which collaborated on the project with the Grande Prairie chapter of Compassionate Friends.
Both Gilkyson and Elizabeth Naith, president of Compassionate Friends, have experienced the heartbreak of losing a child.
Gilkyson's daughter Stella was just 17 days old when she died in 2012. Naith's daughter Emily was eight years old when she died in 2014.
Seeds of inspiration
The garden of hope was partly inspired by a backyard garden Naith planted as a way to cope with her loss. She soon realized that others were also seeking solace.
"All of those that were affected by the loss of my daughter, Emily, couldn't just come to my backyard," she said. "So that was where the thought of a bench came from."
The bench that was placed at Emily's former elementary school, for the use of classmates and teachers, grew into an idea to create something bigger — a public garden.
"It isn't just the families who are grieving the loss of that baby, that child, that adult child that passed away. It's so many individuals," Gilkyson said.
Bears, geese and stars
Tiny Hands of Hope, a non-profit that supports those who have suffered pregnancy or infant loss, had worked with the city on logistics since 2016. Fundraising efforts for the Blossoming Garden of Hope, set to open on Nov. 1, brought in almost $500,000.
Central to the garden's design are its three metal sculptures.
The bronze sculptures of bears holding a heart and the family of geese playing dress-up were created by Studio West Ltd. The Cochrane, Alta., studio is well-known in Edmonton for the statue of Wayne Gretzky now located outside Rogers Place.
"It's really an honour to be a part of a garden like this," said sculptor Don Begg.
Co-creator Shirley Stephens Begg described the sculptures as "playful and child friendly."
The third sculpture is called Hole in the Sky. The stainless steel piece that mimics the Pleiades constellation, is inspired both by the stars and Indigenous beliefs.
Grant Berg, the Grande Prairie city councillor and Métis sculptor who helped create the piece, said the artwork's name is taken from the name Indigenous people gave to the constellation — a wormhole to speak with those who have died.
"You can actually walk up to the sculpture and speak to the people on the other side and they'll hear you," said Berg, who partnered with Alessio Zilli, a Grande Prairie-based journeyman blacksmith, on the project.
Gilkyson hopes the visitors of all ages can find hope in the garden.
"I didn't know how to honour the daughter that's not here. But I also felt like I wasn't being present for the children that I do have here," she said.
"So with the garden I don't have to decide. I can have both."
