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“Lawn Nation” Addresses Land Use

Lawn Nation: Art and Science of the American Lawn, a new indoor-outdoor exhibition at The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, explores “America’s most ubiquitous landscape,” confronting visitors with our national preference for landscaping an area the size of Kentucky with turf grass.

The exhibit exposes some of the consequences of choosing lawns: A single gas-powered mower, for instance, pollutes as much in one hour as a car driven 20 miles. To maintain lawns, we use three times the pesticides, per acre, as the agricultural industry uses on crops. These pesticides then wash off our lawns into the water system: 100 percent of all United States groundwater is contaminated with one or more pesticides.

The exhibit challenges visitors to look behind our assumption of lawn as the “default landscape” of urban areas. “Turf grass is a choice, not an inevitability,” says Jill Riddell, vice president of exhibits and strategic initiatives. “People who are lucky enough to have a yard have to wrestle with questions of how to make it look good and easy to maintain, how to use less water, how to use fewer pesticides.”

With its combination of art and science, the exhibit features quirky highlights such as a lawn gnome treasure hunt and the first riding lawnmower: a rusted tricycle with menacing exposed blades directly behind the seat. Kids will have fun playing croquet on the exhibit’s “lawn.” Adult visitors will enjoy the substantial film documentary, which comments most interestingly on the social dynamics of lawn maintenance.

Open through September 7, Lawn Nation offers many programs including organic lawn care and native gardening seminars, “A Survey of Life in the Soil,” and more. For more information, visit naturemuseum.org.

— Ethan K. Byrne

Related article: Lawn Tyranny, Home Revolution, CW Spring 2004