New Backcountry Casitas Selected for Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Some poetic inspiration is at play at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Of the four new outdoor playhouses to be installed, one pays homage to the late Santa Barbara Poet Laureate, activist, and teacher Sojourner Kincaid Rolle. 

The “Poet’s Perch” was designed by Santa Barbara–based artist Colleen M. Kelly and declared a winner in the Garden’s 2024 Backcountry Casitas competition. Kelly is accompanied by three other winning designers, whose casitas will spring to life in the Garden’s immersive Backcountry playground.

Children will be able to nestle up in the Poet Perch’s inverted tree trunk with the space to write and reflect while feeling encompassed by the natural world. Colorful “poet’s staffs,” painted to evoke Rolle, will accompany the tree, reaching out of the ground alongside the tree’s branches. 

“Sojourner was truly a gift to the community of Santa Barbara and this, in a very small way, would be a recognition of her life of service and dedication, and of her immense talents,” said Kelly. 

The other winning designs include a whorl-shaped “Snail’s Shell” by Goleta resident Jessica Altstatt; a wind-inspired, colorful display of “Spinning Petals” by Robyn Coburn of Iggy Jingle Crafts in Los Angeles; and a storytelling-focused “Woodrat Theater” by Adrienne De Guevara, Patrick Melroy, and Sean O’Brien of MISC Workshop, Santa Barbara. 

“We want to make a space filled with objects that entice young minds to bubble over with story,” said Melroy. “A woodrat’s home is as much their shelter as it is a collection representing narratives of their travels.”

“Spinning Petals” will be installed and open to the public in June 2024, and the remaining three in the late summer, with “Poet’s Perch” opening August 9, “Woodrat Theater” opening August 30, and “Snail Shell” opening September 6. 

All casitas have a two-year lifespan, and the 2024 winners will replace those that were installed in 2022, such as the beloved reading nook “Hawk’s Nest” created by Santa Barbara’s Cody Westheimer (a well-known musician) and his mom. 

Selection criteria included creativity, imagination, and environmentally conscious design; creative use of materials; and relation to the Botanic Garden’s mission of fostering conservation of native plants, among others. 

For instance, the “Snail Shell” highlights the threats, such as the nonnative apple snail, that have been introduced to Santa Barbara’s native habitats. The shell structure, the Garden says, is “based upon the whorls of threatened native land and aquatic snails” and will be constructed from bundles of invasive giant reeds and elephant grass. 

“The construction is based upon traditional methods of working with grasses, but with a fanciful twist,” said Altstatt, a marine scientist who coordinates the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary’s LiMPETS program, an environmental monitoring and education program.

Scot Pipkin, Garden director of education, says the yearly contest offers the community the opportunity to use their creativity to inspire the next generation of stewards. “This year’s winning designs serve as portals to a deeper connection with the natural world and invite visitors to interact with nature in fun and refreshing ways that the whole family can enjoy,” he added.