Public Art of the Week

Shigematsu Memorial Garden

Public art is a shapeshifter that can take many forms, including elegant garden plantings and ponds. One of the Lansing area’s most distinguished and sublime meditative spaces is the Shigematsu Memorial Garden on the campus of Lansing Community College.

This traditional Japanese garden is hidden just off the 500 block of Capitol Avenue to the rear of the Herrmann House, which serves as the home of the college president, Steve Robinson.

The garden includes most of the essential elements of a Japanese garden, including a bridge, a cherry tree, a pine tree and a hill representing Mt. Hiei and Mt. Hira. The Biwako Kisen Steamship Co., in Otsu, Japan, donated it to LCC to honor the memory of its late president, Megumi Shigematsu, for his role in the school’s international education program.

The most prominent element is the large pond, which is filled with multicolored schools of tosai koi fish with more than a dozen full-sized koi.

This past spring, the pond exploded with more than 100 koi fry. These baby fish will find homes through Preuss Pets, which keeps a watchful eye on the pond.

The garden and pond are certainly one of the most restful areas of the urban landscape, even when young children are watching the kaleidoscope display of koi as they constantly swirl in the water. The Lansing area is home to numerous gardens, including Cooley Gardens, just off Malcolm X Street and Washington Avenue. Another is Frances Park, the home of a historic rose garden, which is accessible off Moores River Drive. Beal Garden, the 4-H Children’s Garden and the Horticultural Gardens and Radiology Healing Gardens at Michigan Staate University are all worth a visit.

 

Public Art of the Week is a new feature that rotates with Eyesore of the Week. If you have an idea for either, please email eye@lansingcitypulse.com or call (517) 999-6704.