2024 was a year of great division in our world and in our country. Given the disheartening level of turmoil, the motto of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation, “peace through mutual understanding,” seems like an increasingly unattainable goal.
Yet we continue to believe in that motto at the Cultural Gardens, and we have deepened our belief by expanding the number of cultures represented in the Gardens. As of now, there are 37 gardens that have been formally dedicated (meaning at least phase one has been built) and nine more are in development.
In the past year, the French and Colombian Gardens have completed their first phases, and the Federation has approved Palestinian and Bangladeshi Gardens. In addition to the African American, Native American and Carpatho-Rusyn Gardens, we are now home to gardens representing African, Asian, European, South American and Middle Eastern countries and Mexico.
Our gardens present the spirit of their people. Their statuary depicts beloved cultural heroes – musicians, composers, poets, writers, scientists, philosophers, peacemakers, diplomats, ethnographers. Symbolic landscaping and monuments in the gardens tell the story of the culture’s evolution and hope for the future.
The Gardens do not advocate for political positions, nor do they celebrate one country’s military victory over another.
When people visit the Gardens, they think of their family’s stories – their parents or grandparents’ arrival from their homeland, or their own journey to America for a job opportunity, or to attend school, or to escape from oppression and war. The Gardens might spark memories of music from the home country, or a favorite meal. Everyone’s family has a story to tell, and chances are that story can be found in or evoked by the Cultural Gardens.
The Cultural Gardens are Cleveland because they are its people. When people begin to understand each other, healing begins.
We thank you for visiting us in 2024. Come back in 2025.