Oasis of reflection

A visual tour of the Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial

Article by David Jackson, University Communications and Marketing
Photos by Garrett Britton, University of Idaho Visual Productions

As students arrived on campus for the Fall 2024 semester, they discovered a new outdoor space designed to create peace and comfort. Next to the Physical Education Building (PEB), a looping concrete walkway lined with bright flowers and green trees leads visitors to a large steel memorial pavilion next to alcoves with wooden candleholders.

The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial, a space dedicated to remembering former students who died while attending U of I, is complete after a year of planning, design and construction by College of Art and Architecture Design-Build and Landscape Architecture students. Each spring, a remembrance ceremony will be held here to honor any students who died the previous year and to remember those already memorialized.

The northern half of the area is the memorial space. It contains a circular steel structure with an open center featuring plantings and a steel panel mosaic sculpture representing all former students who died while attending U of I. A railing along the structure’s eastern edge is inscribed with the names of the King Road homicide victims – Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. The space includes booths where people can leave notes of remembrance in votives that can be placed in custom-built wooden holders, which reflects previous vigils held at U of I for members of the Vandal Family who have passed.

The southern half of the space is the healing walk, designed for walking or sitting on benches to relax and reflect. The two halves were designed so visitors can choose the areas they want to visit. The garden may be used for U of I yoga and mindfulness sessions.

On the southern edge of the healing walk, next to Shattuck Arboretum, a large beacon shines a light at night that is visible from the campus walkway next to Idaho Student Union Building, Teaching and Learning Center and Library. Streetlights on the same timer along the corridor between PEB and Memorial Gym guide visitors to the site.

Students worked closely with local and regional suppliers to source materials for the project. Wood used for the retaining wall behind the benches in the healing walk came from unused material from construction of the ICCU Arena. Black locust used in the benches came from a fallen tree on campus. The bent steel beams of the memorial pavilion were specially fabricated by a manufacturer in Athol.

Trees in both spaces were carefully selected to ensure the space always looks healthy and vibrant. In addition to many evergreens, other trees were selected based on seasonal blooms, including late-fall blooming maple trees. Dogwood plants were chosen for their stem color and hydrangeas for their ball-shaped flowers to display color and shape.

Students gathered input from the family and friends of those being memorialized when selecting the colors of the flowers and plants. Blooms around the memorial section are mostly white, pink and purple to convey a serene mood. In the healing walk, students chose more vibrant colors, including reds and oranges, for a livelier feel.

Signs posted around the site will offer additional information on its elements. One of the signs has information and a QR code leading to U of I’s Counseling and Mental Health Center, which provides mental health services to all current Vandal students.