With the help of large donations from the Brita Maria Renlund Foundation, a unique art park is being built, which also offers a treat for green construction lovers.
A very exceptional children’s art park will be built in Kokkola in the summer of 2024. In the park, you can enjoy a variety of different arts and green thumbs can, for example, rent a planter box.
Ideas for the design of the Renlund art park have been collected from the residents and children of the surrounding area. The history of the former school building and the style of the surrounding historic garden district of Mäntykanga have been taken into account in the design.
The park that will be located on the grounds of Taidetalo Renlund, or the former Renlund school, will have many plantings, which are an important part of the ever-changing park. In winter, life comes from lighting instead of plants.
– This will never be the same. Plants grow, works of art live and change. The living garden is unique, but it will already be wonderful at the opening in 2024.
The park is also marked by more than fifty different labyrinths, they have been realized with, for example, stones and plantings. The children wanted a lot of different labyrinths.
– The children also had a surprising wish for a quiet area. They understand that people also need to rest. We combined this into a mindfulness labyrinth where you can quiet down and calm down.
A big role in the art park is the stage, which is suitable not only for music but also for dance performances or film screenings.
The park will also have a greenhouse, plant boxes for rent, musical instruments, tools for woodworking and a kiln roof for pottery work. Some of the artworks are permanent and some are temporary.
– In terms of garden art, there is a lot to see for everyone. Children’s art will play the main role, but there will be other art as well. And I always emphasize that children’s art is real art, it is great and wonderful.
The construction of the park is made possible by funding of 550,000 euros from the Brita Maria Renlund Foundation. The total costs will rise to around 700,000 euros, when the city is committed to making traffic arrangements, fences, lighting and trunk tree plantings.
The Hollyhaka activity park for children and young people has already been built in Kokkola in 2018 with money from the Brita Maria Renlund Memorial Foundation.