The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (KWAG) is getting its hands dirty—in the best way possible. In a bold move that blends creativity with community impact, KWAG has launched the 50/50 Garden of Resilience, a community-driven gardening project designed to address two of today’s most pressing challenges: food insecurity and environmental sustainability.
Located within the KWAG Sculpture Garden, this initiative invites community members to grow their own organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. But don’t let the word “garden” fool you—this is more than raised beds and compost bins. It’s a living, breathing ecosystem of ideas.
“KWAG understands the garden as site, model and gallery,” the project’s website explains. “As a site, it is a functioning community garden… as a model, it is a decolonial gesture… as a gallery, the garden will be regularly programmed, activated and cared for, just like our internal gallery spaces.”
Translation? This isn’t your grandma’s backyard tomato patch.
The 50/50 Garden flips traditional notions of land use and aesthetics on their head. It’s a decolonial, anti-capitalist rethink of what a garden can be: part exhibition, part revolution, part dinner plate.
The timing couldn’t be more urgent. According to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, a staggering 42,000 visits were recorded in December alone—a 25% spike from the same month in 2023. If that number doesn’t give you pause, try imagining every single seat at Scotiabank Arena filled—twice—and everyone there needs food help. That’s what we’re dealing with.
A Garden That Grows More Than Food
Meet Clara, a KWAG volunteer who hadn’t touched a garden spade since grade school. “I used to think dirt was gross,” she laughs. “Now, I’m obsessed with compost. I’m texting my friends like, ‘You guys, banana peels are magic.’” She’s not alone. The garden has already attracted a motley crew: artists, seniors, university students, and first-time gardeners bonding over kale and climate change.
There’s a quiet joy here. Planting seeds. Sharing harvests. Swapping stories while pulling weeds. The garden’s true yield? Connection. Empowerment. Hope.
Rhetorical Pause: What If More Spaces Did This?
What if more public institutions saw their lawns as tools for social change? What if your local library also grew lettuce? What if museums weren’t just places to look at beautiful things—but to grow them, too?
As comedian George Carlin once said, “The planet is fine. The people are f**d.” The Garden of Resilience is KWAG’s witty, green-thumbed rebuttal to that bleak punchline. It’s proof that people can be part of the solution—when given the space.
