Sacred Places
Annapolis Light House Healing Garden
A garden that begins in shade and ends in light.
WHERE
Annapolis, MD
SETTING
Neighborhood
PARTNER INSTITUTION
Light House
Visit
Where it is
10 Hudson Street, Annapolis, MD 21401
What happens here
The garden sits next to the library and meditation room at the centre, offering a sacred place to people who have so often experienced the harsh and hostile effects of living outdoors. Light House and its partners use it to re-introduce more than 1,500 unhoused clients a year to the healing and humanizing effects of nature.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
Beginning in shade, ending in the light.
01
The Need
Lighthouse Ministries has served unhoused and disadvantaged residents in Anne Arundel County for more than 21 years. For their clients, the outdoors has most often meant exposure rather than refuge.
02
The Vision
The garden, dedicated in 2010, embodies a collaborative partnership aimed at integrating communities and mending the spirit, consistent with Light House's mission to rebuild lives through service and compassion. Public art was named a key component: a partnership between Light House, Art Walk (a community public art project), and the Providence Art Center, which serves disabled adults. That joint effort expanded ties between groups who had not worked together before and gave voice to groups that often go unseen. The decision to include those elements during the design process set the direction of the whole project, an attempt to begin in shade and end in the light. For the people it serves, the garden represents the journey out of darkness.
03
The Transformation
The artwork was built into shade-like structures that work as a low-profile barrier to people passing by while keeping the space open rather than walled.
WHO TENDS IT
Jennifer Crawford
Firesoul, Annapolis Light House Healing Garden
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Sarah Ryan
Firesoul, Annapolis Light House Healing Garden
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