UC Berkeley Press Release

Art is in the air (and on the ground)

From Public Affairs | 12 March 2007

(Steven Finacom photos)

BERKELEY – UC Berkeley planning analyst Steven Finacom was strolling across campus on Tuesday, camera in hand, when he came across an impromptu bit of landscape art.

As he passed between California Hall and Valley Life Sciences Building, where the flowering magnolia trees were starting to shed their petals, Finacom spotted a woman collecting the blossoms and carefully arranging them on and around her friend, who was reclining on the grassy slope.

When she was done, the friend stood up, being careful not to disturb the petals, which were left forming an outline on the grass. When Finacom asked if this was part of an art project, the pair told him they were simply visiting a friend on campus, and had opted to take a break on the lawn.

Apparently they weren't the only artists inspired by the early arrival of spring; Finacom captured a floral heart on the grass a short distance north of the couple's handiwork.