Designing a Gift: The Story of the Bason Botanic Gardens Exhibition
This exhibition honours the collective effort behind creating and sustaining these gardens as a loved community asset.
Stanley Bason gifted his land to the Whanganui District Council in 1969. Since then the gardens have been designed with the intention of bringing people and plants closer together.
The Bason Botanic Gardens Trust (BBGT) has been digging through their archives to showcase some of the unique design that has made the Bason the treasured local asset it is.
The BBGT and Festival of Design warmly invite you to come and see how this beautiful space has been developed over the years. The exhibition features original plans, including the intriguing conservatory buildings, as well as early photographs which tell this fascinating and important local design story.
Once you’ve soaked up a little of the history you can take a walk around the gardens to see the design in person and practice.
Give yourself plenty of time as there is so much to explore - truly a gift for anyone who wanders through it. Or as Stanley himself put it “a stream of serenity for those who seek it”.