Unlimited Potential is one of five original founders behind Spaces, along with the Orchard Community Learning Center, TigerMountain Foundation, Roosevelt School District No. Emma Viera, executive director of the nonprofit Unlimited Potential Our mission and vision has been to inspire health and wellness among the residents of south Phoenix. Crises like the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbate the impact that food insecurity has on these already vulnerable communities.Ĭompelled to address these inequities, a consortium of Arizona’s community-based organizations have joined forces to create a sustainable food system, providing educational opportunities for the community, an economic engine for small farmers and a place for individual gardeners to hone their own skills. Feeding America estimates that half of these are children who don’t have reliable access to healthy, nutritious foods. In Arizona, one in eight people face hunger. Known as Spaces of Opportunity, the plush urban farmstead is a vital resource for a community located in the middle of a food desert. If you live close to a botanical garden that has lit up the night with lights among the plants then find a night to walk out of doors and celebrate the light.Overlooked by South Mountain in southern Phoenix, bountiful rows of kale, okra, radishes and citrus trees bloom on a 19-acre community farm. I like to think that reflecting upon the beauty of a garden lit with possibilities is the best way to begin the holiday season. Prisms of light fall onto the ground.ĭecember is upon us and all the rituals this brings to our lives as we prepare to enter a new year. Even in the daytime the prism of light sprinkles the plants below with rainbows on the rocks and leaves. In the succulent gallery three dramatic spiraling chandeliers hang from the arches. In the garden entry a light designed to imitate the areole of cactus is a remarkable representation of the site specific design. The spines of the cactus radiate out from the areole. In the cactus gallery big blooms of light stand among the tall cacti. Yet walking up the hill through the lights as they change colors from yellow, to red to blue to purple to green to white is an unparalleled experience. A casual glance could confuse it with a city scape of night lights. The effect looks like an enormous stain glass window lit from behind. The impact of the light cannot be captured in a photograph. The highest point in the garden, the hillside of the Sonoran Desert Nature Loop Trail, is lit from top to bottom. Using miles of fiber optics, the garden grounds are lit by sculptures of fireflies, towers, and hanging chandeliers. This year the magic of light is amplified with the special Bruce Munro Sonoran Light installation. Before the music begins the sounds of hooting great horned owls, cactus wren, and mockingbird provide their songs. The garden becomes a concert hall as ten mini concert stages are set up among the 145 acres. The unique silhouette of a Boojum tree is highlighted by the light. As you enter you realize you are walking into a very special place. The desert trees of palo verde, acacia, and others are outlined with tiny white lights and stand out brightly against a dark sky with the mountain peaks of Papago Park silhouetted in waning light of the day. The trails are lined with 8000 luminaries, (a small candle in a paper bag, anchored with sand), providing a soft glow to guide your way. The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ, has mastered the magic of December lighting in the garden. Can a garden compete with a shopping mall? I believe they can, enticing shoppers to to go walking out of doors in a wonderland of colored lights highlighting nature’s display under the moon and stars. Botanical gardens from Maine to San Diego light up their gardens to celebrate the season. It should come as no surprise to learn that my great joy in enjoying December lights takes place in a garden. Hanukkah is a festival of lights, Christmas trees are lit as a gathering place for the festivities of the season, the Luminaries of the Southwest light the pathway for the worshippers to find their way to the Christmas Miracle. Yet in December, light becomes a part of our celebrations. It gets dark and we need light to complete our daily tasks. As we approach the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, we turn on our lights with little thought.
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