2022 Honorable Mention, Foreword Indie Awards, Regional Category

From their beginnings as private farmland to their current form as monuments to cultural and ethnic diversity, the unique collection of landscaped, themed gardens that compose Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens holds a rich history. John J. Grabowski guides readers through this story, using both archival images and Lauren R. Pacini’s stunning contemporary photography. 

First erected as the Shakespeare Garden in 1916, the land bordering Doan Brook slowly began to incorporate tributes to immigrants, reflecting Cleveland’s role as a key location for eastern European immigrants. Throughout both world wars, the Cold War, and more recent events, the gardens’ composition has changed to reflect more diversity, now encompassing 33 individual gardens that honor cultures and countries with connections to Cleveland. Each garden features plants native to the corresponding culture, from German to Vietnamese and from Ethiopian to Finnish. This vast inclusivity makes Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens a forerunner in the push for greater representation of cultures and people of color in memorials and public spaces. 

The gardens also highlight a growing emphasis on collaboration and coexistence among cultures, as symbolized in the Peace Garden of the Nations and its crypt of intermingled soil from shrines around the world. This book will be of interest both locally and nationally, given its visual appeal and its discussions of culture, diversity, and inclusion.