Delaware Valley University Earns Bronze Medal at the Philadelphia Flower Show
By Michelle Glitzer ’20, marketing and communications intern
Delaware Valley University’s Philadelphia Flower Show exhibit, “Forgotten Structures,” won The Bronze Medal this year and will be on display until Sunday, March 11 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Each year, exhibitors are judged on their ability to effectively educate the audience; DelVal had the honor of accepting the bronze medal in this category.
Students help design, build and staff the exhibit each year. DelVal’s first exhibit in the Philadelphia Flower Show was in 1950. The experience provides students with hands-on learning in their field of study and stretches their creativity. Community volunteers were present at the set-up period to help put together the final display at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
The Philadelphia Flower Show opened March 3. This year’s theme is “The Wonders of Water.” DelVal’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Sciences embraced this theme with their display. According to Howard Eyre, an assistant professor in the department, the display explores the idea that “water is destructive and water is creative.”
Eyre explained that water has the power to erode and wash away history yet also sustain life, and both concepts are portrayed in “Forgotten Structures.”
DelVal’s exhibit features an abandoned Mayan temple surrounded by columns that look like ancient ruins. A grand entrance welcomes guests into the exhibit. Flowers and cascading plants flow over the top of the structure and fill up the side beds. For a fully immersive experience, guests can walk through a tunnel in the back of the structure to see the garden from a unique perspective. On the wall, the display includes interesting facts about forgotten structures and water. Guests enjoyed testing their knowledge with the questions posted along the tunnel.
Students in DelVal’s Flower Show course are participants in each part of the flower show process leading up to and including the presentation of their display and will be graded based on their participation. The class includes Robert Barras ’18, David Cartier ’19, Sean Collins ’19, Alexander Hardy ’18, Pinkky Kanabar ’20, Alexander Konig ’19, Rachel Landis ’18, Raymond Stuckey ’18, and Matthew Tordone ’19. In the fall semester, these students focused on designing the exhibit and then moved into the construction phase through the start of the spring semester.
DelVal provided a meaningful statement for its audience to ponder as guests walked through “Forgotten Structures.”
The description reads:
“The persistent single drop of water is an unstoppable force carving its way through our abandoned ruins. That same force carves a path for new life; new life born through water’s capacity to nurture and rejuvenate. Water calms, inspires, and heals the mind and body. Experience our forgotten structure and the capacity of water to bring forth anew!" -Delaware Valley University Philadelphia Flower Show exhibit description
For more information about the Philadelphia Flower Show, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, please visit theflowershow.com.
Learn more about how DelVal students prepare for the Flower Show.