Issue VI – Spring 2013

WILDER

OASIS IN THE BRONX
A day at Wave Hill

Text by Naomi Reis
Photography by Anna Wolf and Naomi Reis

Take the 1 train to the last stop in the Bronx, board the shuttle in front of the Burger King at 10 past the hour; within minutes you are transported to Wave Hill, a 28-acre island of green a few blocks west of the Henry Hudson Highway. The transition from the typical hill (hence the name) overlooking the Hudson with no obvious evidence of the city ⎯okay, maybe if you squint and ignore the George Washington Bridge off to the left⎯ feels so abrupt that it’s a bit like going through the subway turnstile and finding yourself in Narnia.

— The following pages offer a glimpse into a typical day at Wave Hill as it prepares for spring, where a diverse group of people, from gardeners to builders to curators, work together season to season to preserve the slice of land: an oasis in the Bronx, now and into the future.

— Asuka Hishiki spent many hours at the Marco Polo Stufano Conservatory during her time at Wave Hill, drawing from life and working with the gardeners to learn more about the plans and how they grow. Each individual botanical drawing, exquisitely rendered in precise detail, took her about 6-8 hours in the studio to complete.

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Mylar stencils in Francisco Donoso’s studio (right) ; artist Asuka Hishiki in the Palm House with one of her drawings (left)