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Magic Penny Gardens are the community component of the Persephone Project. They are community art gardens created by artists using plants contributed from the perennial gardens of neighborhood residents. Conceived by artist and project director Stephanie Flom, the Magic Penny Gardens was inspired by a Malvina Reynold’s folk song entitled Magic Penny, which equates love to a magic penny—the more you give it away, the more you receive. When Flom realized that most of the plants in her thriving perennial garden came as gifts from friends and that the more she gave plants away, the more she seemed to have, she dubbed it her Magic Penny Garden. The first Magic Penny Garden was made in 2002 at Frank Curto Park in Pittsburgh by Lily Yeh. The Garden is circular and measures 45 feet in diameter. Concurrently, Magic Penny Gardens were created in the two communities adjacent to Curto Park—Polish Hill and and the Hill District—by artists who reside in those neighborhoods. Paul Bowden made a Magic Penny Garden in Polish Hill and Jorge Myers in the Hill District. Magic Penny Gardens may happen anywhere and is the ongoing outreach component of the Persephone Project. In 2003 Magic Penny Gardens were created in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville and in Wilkinsburg, PA respectively by artists Jan Loney and Gary Pletsch. In 2004-2005 the Persephone Project is collaborating with the Good Grief Center for Bereavement Support to establish Magic Penny Memory Gardens at their home in the historic Carnegie Library of Homestead. The
strength of both the ArtGardens and the Magic Penny projects is
their simplicity. They invite the public into the artistic process
at a time when people are open to a connection to art, aesthetics,
and creativity in their lives. The project bridges the divide between
artist and public, and demands high-quality, yet accessible public
art.
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MAGIC
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