New Dumfries Zen gardens draw mixed reaction from public as new artworks suffer vandalism

Zen Gardens launched in Dumfries town centre to mark a year of the pandemic are receiving mixed reactions from the public.

Dumfries-based artist, Peter Smith, has created his Beauty in the Broken series of six Zen Gardens located in various places around the town.

Each garden – which uses rocks and gravel or sand in swirling patterns to recreate the essence of nature and to calm the mind – has its own volunteer gardener to tend to it every day.

And that means a daily change to the patterns in each display to reflect their mood and the atmosphere of the day.

However, while they are going down well with the public who are enjoying visiting each one in a trail around the town, they have also been hit by vandalism and disrespect.

One of the gardens was damaged and others have had litter thrown into them.

Peter’s artwork was commissioned by The Stove as part of “Atlas Pandemica: Maps to a Kinder World” which is a compendium of ten projects led by creative people, each investigating a different theme highlighted by life during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson for The Stove said: “Peter had said he has been having to fix them mostly every day. It is such a shame – and makes it seem like this is why we can’t have anything nice in Dumfries. But mostly people have been respecting the spaces which is great.”

The Zen Gardens, can be found at the town’s railway station, the council headquarters, the Ewart Library, the rowing club, Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura and the Dock Park bandstand.

Beauty in the Broken runs until Sunday and Peter said: “As we recover and move towards the loosening of restrictions, we invite everyone to take part, take time to look at and ponder the gardens.

“I hope that the gardens help people to ask questions and reflect on the effects of the pandemic has had on our town. As we recover, it’s a time of healing and opens opportunities to build better.”

He added: “People are invited to visit the gardens throughout the day and ask questions such as: How can new patterns, rituals and habits help us? Is there beauty in the way we heal? How can we embrace brokenness and imperfection?”

The Stove Network said more is to come from Atlas Pandemica – supported by the Scottish Government’s Supporting Communities Fund – showing creative ways to chart the changes that have happened around the town recently during the pandemic.

It will explore “local responses to the pandemic and how these might shape new approaches to our shared
future”.