Columbus's Topiary Garden changes a painting into a place to walk

Image: Archival photograph of Columbus Topiary Park by Ɱ dated October 19, 2018; planting, maintenance and visitor conditions may have changed.

A painting usually holds its viewpoint still. At Columbus's Topiary Garden at Deaf School Park, visitors can move around a scene inspired by Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, seeing what happens when figures from an image occupy three-dimensional space.

Columbus Recreation and Parks describes fifty-four life-size topiaries, shaped by local artist James T. Mason and his wife, Elaine, in 1989. A pond, walking trail and trees make the surrounding landscape part of the experience. Living plants also bring maintenance and seasonal change to a composition originally made in paint.

The park is at 480 East Town Street, near the Main Library. Plan around current park notices and posted rules, and keep an ordinary garden outing separate from arrangements to rent the gatehouse or hold an event. The gatehouse's rental amenities are not a promise that its indoor facilities will be available during every park visit.

Try looking from more than one position. A figure that appears separate from the scene at one angle may line up differently when you move. Leave the topiary and beds undisturbed, and use photographs or notes to record your impressions. The garden makes a familiar question about art unusually physical: what changes when the viewer changes position?

Sources and visit details

• Columbus Recreation and Parks: Topiary Garden's source painting, creators, figures and setting
• Columbus Recreation and Parks: Topiary Garden visitor location

Photo: Ɱ / Wikimedia Commons. CC0. Resized and converted to WebP; the site wordmark may be added in display.