Artists are invited to Ms. Wilson’s 18 S. Main St. home Sunday for third annual Art in the Park
By: Lacey Korevec
Surrounded by trees that are well over 200 years old and sprinkled with wildflowers, the backyard of South Main Street resident Loida Wilson tends to take on a life of its own, she said.
She said her property is so big that it’s difficult to maintain, especially since she’s busy with work and taking care of her family. But, a few weeds is not enough to deter the Cranbury Arts Council from holding its next Art in the Park garden session there.
"I’ve been asked for many years to do it and I’ve never done it because I travel a lot and the yard is not, in my mind, where I’d like to see it from a maintenance standpoint," Ms. Wilson said. "But they convinced me this year to do it anyway. At one point this really was like an English garden, but to keep an English garden you have to have time."
Weeds or no weeds, local artists are invited to Ms. Wilson’s 18 S. Main St. home Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. to paint, sketch or photograph scenes for this year’s third Art in the Park garden session.
The Art in the Park Garden Sessions give residents a chance to volunteer their gardens as painting venues and offers local artists an opportunity to come together and paint outdoors. Those who participate are free to submit up to six works for consideration in the Gourgaud Gallery’s December exhibit.
Ms. Wison’s 1790 home is among the oldest houses in Cranbury. Her backyard features hedges of white hydrangeas, an old fountain, bonsai pots, a tea house covered in grapes and white wildflowers, butterfly bushes, day lilies, gladiolas and an old stone lion statue from a garden in England.
"There are roses kind of scattered throughout and when they’re blooming they’re kind of magnificent," she said. "The patio is filled with different, brightly colored colias. There’s a really interesting, very old tree that the kids use. It’s some type of maple. It’s just interesting. I think there’s a lot going on here that would keep people interested if they were painting."
There’s also a view of Brainerd Cemetery that artists can recreate on their canvasses and an old headstone Ms. Wilson said she found in her yard about eight years ago.
"It was buried in one of the flower beds," she said, adding that there’s no body buried in her yard. "We think the headstone at some point was just brought over. Many, many years ago, historically, there was flooding taking place in town and I was told a lot was moved at that time."
Ms. Wilson said she’s honored that artists are interested in painting her backyard and is excited to see the results.
"We’ve got tremendous painters in town and in this area and I’m sure they’re going to make the garden look as beautiful as it looks in my mind, even if it’s not the reality of how it is," she said. "They’ll paint its beauty and not the weeds."

