This installation reimagines the hardscape as a soft, living system. Through the creative use of straw wattles and biotic earth, the project constructs a planted shoreline simulation filled with native grasses, sedges, and wildflowers. The two layers of wattles are fastened using concealed wooden dowels to form a vessel to house the plants. The meandering form echoes the Red River’s path, inviting visitors to walk, pause, and engage with the garden installation. Beyond its symbolic gestures, the Living Shore proposes a sustainable and artistic representation of shoreline restoration technique— the same materials used here can be recycled to long-term stabilization efforts of Manitoba’s waterfronts.

The installation serves as both an art piece and an environmental statement, raising public awareness of shoreline erosion and habitat degradation. It celebrates local materials but also envisions their potential reuse in long-term stabilization projects. Benefiting from its fully biodegradable feature, the installation embodies a closed-loop material cycle—transforming agricultural byproducts into a civic intervention, with the possibility of returning to the natural environment.

Organized by Storefront Manitoba, Cool Gardens is an annual public art and design exhibition that has animated at various locations in downtown Winnipeg since 2014. The Living Shore installation is made possible through the generous support of local manufacturer ECBVerdyol, who supplied the straw wattles, and Urban Jungle, a Winnipeg-based contractor who led construction. To ensure public safety, the straw wattle material was specially treated with spray-on fire-retardant.