Written & Photographed By Laura Wrede
Great ideas , like wild fires , often start with small sparks . That was certainly true with the Art in the Park program at Gilroy Gardens . What began with just a flicker of a thought , in a few short years spread into a fully developed community-wide program thanks to the vision of two people : Mr . Jan Froom and Anne Howe .
It started with a one-day event back in 2012 when the Gilroy Public Art Committee planned an “ Art In The Park ” day of activities at Gilroy Gardens on Gilroy Day ( the free day for Gilroy residents ). The committee approached Jan , a docent for Gilroy Gardens , to help plan the event . The committee members presented their ideas , complete with artist demonstrations and live music .
Ironically ( not known to many ) Jan , and a long time friend and local artist , Ann Howe , had already thought about incorporating art into The Gardens . She thought Gilroy Gardens could have a program similar to that of Filoli Gardens in Woodside . When Jan met with the Public Art Committee to plan this one-day event ,
the wheels began turning as he saw what this could mean for the community and the Gardens beyond Gilroy Day .
When the day came , it turned out to be one of the rainiest on record . By 2 pm only a few hundred people braved the storm . When the rain finally stopped , several thousand people flooded the gates for the last few hours , but by then the Art in the Park event had dissipated . The soggy circumstances didn ’ t dampen Jan ’ s spirit , in fact just the opposite .
When the event was over Jan decided to meet with Barb Granter , Vice President and General Manager of Gilroy Gardens , and pitch some ideas to her about creating an ongoing Art in the Park program . Barb gave the green light to go forward .
Next Jan met with members of Gilroy ’ s art community . “ I met with the Public Art Committee , Gilroy Art Alliance , and received help from Renee Harrigan in getting names of artists who might be interested in helping us get started ,” said Jan . “ Our first year we initiated Artist Access Days , allowing artists to come to The Park to create art free of charge . We
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