SOCO's New Web Banner!

In 2023, Seeds of Change commissioned recent VCU graduate Mariangel Garcia to design a web banner that captured the essence of SOCO’s past, present, and future work. Her notes on the emblematic image now housed at the forefront of our website are below. We thank her for her wonderful work on this design.

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I opted for a playful almost paper collage style because I felt it was a good way to represent all of the different people that have been a part of this garden and how all your efforts have meshed together to create something so wonderful. I decided to go about representing the past, present, and future of the land utilizing specific flowers. You mentioned there was a lot of Korean influence on this land in the past, so to bring that to light, I chose a Korean orchid to be at the beginning of the banner. To signify what’s to come, I ended the row of flowers with a daisy flower that traditionally symbolizes new beginnings, joy and cheerfulness. It’s a small detail, but I thought it would be a neat way to pay homage to the history and future of this garden.

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About Mari: “I'm a passionate graphic designer originally from Honduras, now calling Richmond, VA my home. I'm all about art direction, and my creative journey revolves around crafting distinctive designs. I believe in the power of visuals to captivate and leave a lasting impact on our community. I invite you to explore my portfolio and witness the fusion of passion, creativity, and purpose.” Portfolio: https://garciamadrid.me

Thank You for a Successful Community Cleanup and Garden Work Day!

On April 24th, we held a community cleanup and garden work day for the community garden on Biggs Road. Thank you to everyone who showed up and helped us out! The neighborhood looks so much better and we are almost ready to begin planting.

We cannot wait for the next community cleanup and garden work day!

Surveys from our Partnership with a VCU Graduate Student

In March we began a partnership with a VCU graduate student, who wanted to collaborate with us for his service learning project for a course. We quickly identified several things he could help with. One thing we wanted help with was answering the following broad questions: “What do community members think about the community garden on Biggs Road?” and “What do employees at local businesses think about the community garden on Biggs Road?”

We ultimately decided that creating two surveys would be the best way to answer these two questions. Thus, we have worked together for over a month on our surveys. This has been an iterative process with several drafts, testing, and retest. However, we are excited to announce that both of our surveys are finished and we are eager to review responses!

If you are interested in completing the surveys, please head to the Complete our Surveys under Get Involved!