This circular garden planted at 6018|North features plants native to this land pre-Colonial settlement, which was swampy marsh and prairie. By planting Midwest prairie species this climate-responsive design allows us to restore a lost ecological relationship.

Solastalgia is a neologism meaning homesickness for our environment blighted by climate change. CIRCLE GARDEN: SOLASTALGIA is currently in three locations. One interior garden is planted around a tree stump removed from the 6018 North parkway featuring a variety of native species, and a second smaller interior garden features a different series of plants including grasses and groundcover. The parkway exterior garden Is an inversion of the interior circular design to celebrate the new replacement Native swamp oak tree. Over two years, the plant’s historical uses and current locational outcomes are studied, recorded, and posted for viewers to follow. In addition, an interactive artists’ book presents international circle gardens to further inform this project.

Historically, the circle garden has taken on many forms, from an Ojibwe medicine wheel garden to a Senegalese food emergency protection project and the prairie-style Jens Jensen Formal Garden in Humboldt Park, Chicago (currently under reconstruction). They offer spiritual, social, and practical benefits, yet they are uncommon, as they are difficult to quantify as parceled land.

CIRCLE GARDEN: SOLASTALGIA culminates in a series of circular garden design plans as printed and online material shared freely with the community.