March 25 , 2025
Butterfly Garden Performs at The VORTEX Repertory Theater
In a metamorphosis of once severely - packed earth at an abandoned warehouse , an urban butterfly stroke asylum restores life history to soil and soul in daily pollinator show atThe VORTEX Repertory Theater garden . In March 2024 , I headed over for their one-year Garden Party , a family - merriment event to set something new and celebrate spring with euphony , public presentation , and crafts . And then in May , the crew and I returned to fit with visionary Bonnie Cullum , The VORTEX co - founder and producing artistic director . In 1988 , she and a few grad school colleagues launched a house to challenge the status quo and take on crucial progeny of our time . “ And one of those , of trend , is climate crisis and the surroundings and the way that manhood is interacting with the mankind , ” she tell us . In 1994 , they go to the old building on Manor Road . The economic rent was cheap — no surprise — since it lack basic amenities like heat , aviation , and restrooms until later redevelopment . “ That ’s what these truss pillar that have all the plants on them , they come in so that we could have lighting outside , ” she suppose . The out-of-door level still hosts event and performance , where sky mellow passion vine swing its fruit on one truss during our November sojourn . Another hosts Caroline snailseed and its lustrous crimson berries for skirt . When Bonnie ’s dad , renowned wind musician Jim Cullum , suggest pave over the one thousand for parking , she responded , “ No , it ’s get this specialness to it . And I really want to plant more tree diagram and more works and have this be the destination that people want to sit in this outside distance . ”On our fall visit , butterflies and bees were all over the mania vine flowers , while Gulf fritillary caterpillars blithely chomped their way to a new generation of butterflies . Enter Alex Cogburn , box seat office manager and custodian of the butterfly sanctuary , who share Bonnie ’s heat for theatre , plants , and all creatures . His colorful foretoken , paint with scraps from set edifice , represents aboriginal groundcover Texas frogfruit . A legion plant for several metal money of butterflies , its thumbnail - sized white flowers draw in many small pollinator . He propagates frogfruit and many plant life for the garden and the community , like Bonnie ’s Girl Scout troop . To the left , aboriginal flame acanthus attract hummingbirds and butterflies to its summertime flame - orange cannular flowers . Alex design for successional blooming with annuals , perennials , trees , vine , and bush . He also wants host plants for caterpillars and berry for birds . On the Butterfly Bar ’s pack of cards , frequenter can sip their drink and toast the butterfly and bees try their flowered libations . Convivial razz chime into renovate conversations . Alex is a photographer who documents the many species that drop in . “ I ’ll take a instant and put down the hosepipe or put down the pruner and seek to get a picture . I love the idea of being able-bodied to have some form of catalog or inventory of what we ’ve seen here at The VORTEX , ” he say . Their workplace was recognized as a Certified Butterfly Garden of theNorth American Butterfly Association — a great situation for design ideas and butterfly identification . To maximise flower power , he goes upright however he can . Spring blooming aboriginal coralvine pull in hummingbirds and butterfly stroke without upstage its companions . Some theater props and correct small-arm find their means to the garden after their final drape call . Alex turned a rust metal cask into a plantation owner ( with drain ) for a native roughleaf dogwood . A talented piece of work subject area enchant it up . Roughleaf dogwood ’s spring flowers nourish pollinators , while hiss by and by consume its chubby lily-white berry . I was astonished at the issue of peaches on their tree ! Yet , the mountain of Styrofoam Word was equally intriguing . Alex explained that they were a fit piece in UT prof Lisa B. Thompson’sThe Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body . Bonnie ’s pa could n’t resist rescuing an old pony shed from Brackenridge Park in San Antonio . Eventually , he renovated it , where it ’s now a cozy spot for events and art installations . And the category VORTEX ca n’t resist the sweet strays that join the plaster bandage , including Smokey and Radius . There ’s always a crowd for Patrizi ’s impudent alimentary paste and redolent sauces to dine alfresco with a glass from The Butterfly Bar , and perhaps tickets to a show that Nox . Through April 20 , the inner stage presentsMotherTree , conceptualise and organise by Bonnie . From their web site : “ Weaving Dance , Music , and Magic , MotherTreecreates a alone vision of our relationship with trees . Faery Magic and Earth Science engage our imaginations as we travel through the mycorrhizal meshwork to learn from the Trees . The urging of Climate Crisis compels us to take environmental action and to commit deep work anchor in reciprocity and respect . ”
Get tickets and ensure out their terrific ongoing events lineup . I’m glad we met Radius ( name for the read/write head robot in the Rossum ’s Universal Robots , write in 1920 , when robots take over humanity ) , since he pass away this class at years 16 . He ’s watched the garden come live , side by side with an appreciative audience .
Thank you for stopping by ! Next hebdomad , we launch new programme for the spring season . See you then !
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