Restoration transforms Chinese Garden at Palm Beach's Society of the Four Arts

An effort to restore the historic Chinese Garden at The Society of the Four Arts has transformed the aging space into a revitalized, lush landscape.

Jointly overseen by the Garden Club of Palm Beach, the Four Arts and landscape architect Jorge Sanchez of Palm Beach-based SMI Landscape Architecture, the project includes restoration of the garden's architectural features, artwork, wood elements and landscaping.

Work began in May 2021 and is nearly complete, said Rebecca Dunham, head of Fine Arts and a curator at the Four Arts. All that remains is the installation of two restored carved wood panels that decorate the garden's south wall, former Garden Club president Mary Pressly told the Daily News on Friday.

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"I noticed when I began my job at The Four Arts in July of 2018 that the space needed restoration, but the project was put on hold due to the global pandemic," Dunham said. "One Four Arts’ member, Kit Pannill, also a member of the Garden Club of Palm Beach, supported me in this endeavor and it was solely due to her support that I received approval from Four Arts’ leaders to move forward with restoring the Chinese Garden."

Measuring 42-by-44 feet, the almost square-shaped Chinese Garden is one of nine thematic spaces within the Botanical Gardens at the Four Arts.

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The others are the Fragrant Moonlight, Palm, Bromeliad, Jungle Garden, Spanish Façade, Formal, Tropical, and Madonna gardens.

The Botanical Gardens were designed and planted by the Garden Club in 1938 while Maurice Fatio was building the first Four Arts’ building, which is now the Gioconda and Joseph King Library.

The purpose of the gardens was to demonstrate to new residents what types of plants and flowers thrive in South Florida, and it continues to fulfill this function today, Dunham said.

The Chinese Garden, whose first sponsor was Garden Club and Four Arts member Mrs. Lorenzo E. Woodhouse, is the only thematic space in the Botanical Gardens with surrounding walls, Dunham said.

It is named "I Ho Yuan," or "the garden of nourishing peace," after the remaining summer palace garden outside Beijing in China.

It features ceramic wall tiles; a ceramic wall plaque of Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings; carved and gilded wood wall plaques; wood signs with inscriptions and dedications; stone foo dogs; stone sculptures of Asian deities; a bronze turtle; a stone Chinese lantern; and a stone Buddha sculpture under a parapet decorated with ceramic tiles and bamboo.

Its most impressive piece of art, Dunham said, is the entrance gate and doors. They feature red-painted wood with carved and gilded wood-relief plaques, all of which are topped by a wooden roof adorned with ceramic roof tiles and ceramic fish sculptures.

Since 1938, the sculptures, wood elements, and ceramic decorations have been cleaned by Four Arts’ staff and professional art conservators, Dunham said, while some of the wood elements have been repainted.

But until now, the Chinese Garden has never undergone a major restoration.

The harsh climate of South Florida, and pests such as termites and ants, have caused permanent damage that could not be reversed," Dunham said. "The stones sculptures and ceramic tiles and plaques were in poor condition, and nearly all the wood was warped, rotten and infested with pests. Also, the paint was cracked and peeling off most wood pieces and nearly all the gilding had worn off.

The pandemic caused a delay in the project, but work got underway last spring.

Dunham enlisted a team of professional art conservators as well as Four Arts Director of Facilities Management Ron Minnicks to repair and restore the garden's architectural features, artwork and wood elements.

Sanchez, a longtime Palm Beach resident, was brought in to remove some plants, trees, and flowers and replace them with ones more appropriate to the thematic space.

"A lot of the plants were tired," said Sanchez, who also is a member of the Garden Club of Palm Beach. "They were looking very weak. We removed the plants that weren't looking well and were not appropriate because they (the gardens) had been filled in through the years with things that were not really appropriate.

"We came in with gardens that were more Asiatic. That's why black bamboo is there. We put in different, more Oriental vegetation. It's fresher, and it's better."

Dunham said the restoration project required ''significant'' funding, and contributions were made by a variety of individuals and groups, including the Garden Club, Pannill, Christine Aylward, and The Rona and Jeffrey Abramson Foundation.

"The Four Arts utilized funds in its general operating project, but the project would not have been possible without additional funding," she said.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.