“Cool” by MVRDV from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Cool is a 30-foot-tall cocktail stir stick, with a cloud at the top, creating shade for passers-by. (THE FORKS / HANDOUT)

Three new installations are making up this year’s Cool Gardens public exhibition near The Forks.

Now in its seventh year, the exhibit celebrates contemporary garden culture, public art and the local landscape.

“Cool Gardens aims to bring architects, designers, landscape architects, and artists together to celebrate contemporary garden culture and the local landscape,” said David Penner, president of StorefrontMB and Cool Gardens co-curator.

“This year’s exhibition offers residents and visitors an opportunity, similar to Warming Huts, to engage in the art and design culture thriving in Manitoba and around the globe.”

New installations this year:

• “Keep Your Cool” (winner) at the West end of Esplanade Riel, by Winnipeg’s own ft3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design. It is a sensory experience of colour, light and shadows that frames the boundless sky above. Layers of interwoven cord emulate cloud formations and provide a canopy of ethereal shade above the grass.
• “Cool” (invited) at The Forks (near CN Stage) by MVRDV from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Cool is a 30-foot-tall cocktail stir stick, with a cloud at the top, creating shade for passers-by. This cloud is strategically positioned, astronomically, to be a solar sundial.
• “Cartwheels” (invited) at Upper Fort Garry Park by Kenneth Lavallee from Winnipeg. Cartwheels honours the influence and resilience of the Metis people in Manitoba’s formative years. Inspired by his family’s farm in the Metis community of St. Laurent, Lavallee gives new life to “rusty tools” by turning them into lawn art, just like his mother used to do.

Cool Gardens includes seven installations. Find out where you can view them by location at CoolGardens.ca.