Jazz Garden Gate
Located one block Northwest of the INSPIRE Garden off of Cuthbert Ave. Five vines with flowers made from the INSPIRE gate climb up one side of the entryway fence transforming into parallel lines of sheet music. The notes, made from the steel flowers of the INSPIRE gate as well as acrylic, are from a short moment in The Real Book sheet music from Cab Calloway’s classic Minnie the Moocher. Cab Calloway was raised in Baltimore from age 11 about 3 miles south of the Garden and even worked down the street at Pimlico Racecourse as a teen. The vines arch overhead, intertwining and coming down to meet the top of the “Jazz Garden” sign on the opposite side of the entryway. While the essence of the piece is outlined in the drawings, like jazz itself, the swoops of the music and flowers was improvised during fabrication adding twists and turns of the vines, placing the flowers, and adding colors in the spirit of the moment working around these themes and structures.
This sculpture is titled “Apollo”, the Greek god of music.