ART HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE – 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PORI. ART MUSEUM’S ENVIRONMENTAL ART PROJECT – Mollu Heino
MEDIE RELEASE
GROWTH HOME 2005 / 2014
Black iron, plantings
Pori Art Museum / Sculpture Courtyard / 17.05.–14.09.2014
The Growth Home artwork was originally created in 2005 as part of the Pori Art Museum’s Taidetta Ympäri ja Ämpäri (Art Here and There) environmental art project. This project invites artists from various disciplines to collaborate with schoolchildren. The Growth Home artwork was the result of visual artist Mollu Heino’s artist residency in 2005 and is now being recreated. The public is invited to participate in the artwork by planting their own flowers and seeds in it.
The concept behind Growth Home stems from schoolchildren’s reflections on dreams and realities related to living spaces and homes. In spring 2005, visual artist Mollu Heino and Tommi Ojala worked with approximately 60 schoolchildren to gather their thoughts about living, dream houses, and homes. The children drew and built dream homes, created shadow images using their bodies as “construction materials,” and developed a colorful array of house designs: castles, towers, huts, gravity-defying structures, and simple houses.
In Growth Home, the children’s designs for dream homes and structures merge into a single artwork. The piece also incorporates the playfulness and functionality that children associate with living spaces, expressed through the growth of plants and flowers. The public is encouraged to contribute to the artwork by adding their own plants, seeds, and seedlings.
Visual artist Mollu Heino designed the piece based on the children’s ideas and plans, while Tommi Ojala conceptualized the associated planting project. The artwork was constructed by the City of Pori’s employment services (TYPA).
Art Here and There
Art Here and There (Taidetta Ympäri ja Ämpäri) is an environmental art project that has been active since 1999. The program includes workshops, excursions, and environmental art days that explore ways to perceive, understand, and experience different environments through art.
The Pori Art Museum has hosted both pioneers and emerging artists in land and environmental art. These exhibitions provide fertile ground for reflecting on the relationship between humans and nature, art’s ability to reflect environmental changes, and art’s potential to foster dialogue between local and global contexts.
Artists who have participated in Art Here and There include Jan-Erik Andersson, Satu Bethell, Julien Collieux, Kalle Hamm, Outi Heiskanen, Helinä Hukkataival, Kirsi Jaakkola, Päivi Raivio, Heli Ryhänen, and Paula Salmela.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of Art Here and There! The project has been supported over the years by the Pori Department of Education.
Translated with ChatGPT