A Thing of Beauty
San Miguel's Zen Garden Becomes a Reality
Our UCSB campus has a handful of special spaces to really appreciate our Santa Barbara weather and views, and HDAE has just added one more!
Nestled between San Miguel and Ortega Commons if you’re facing the lagoon, you’ll find a beautiful Zen garden – one that we have former HDAE Webmaster and Graphic Artist Eric Zobel to thank! That space was empty for decades, and Zobel always thought it would make an incredible place for a garden for students and staff, alike, to enjoy. With the help of the Grounds team, Manuel Herrera, in particular, plus former Program Manager of Residential Operations, Karla Burris, the project took flight and is waiting for you to visit.
“When you asked what I thought about the outcome – I was totally blown away,” Zobel said in an interview. “Manuel's crew came in later that summer and built the thing of beauty it is today. I have worked with Manuel on several projects and I cannot say enough about his work ethic, positivity and follow through. He even brought the large cactus from his home garden in to fill it out – amazing!”
After walking by this space for 20-plus years, Zobel presented his idea to the HDAE Arts & Culture Committee and luckily Burris was all ears and supported the idea. “I really want to credit her because she was the catalyst in initiating it,” Zobel said.
The original plan was for Herrera to dump dirt in the area for Zobel and Burris to pull together a student crew to rake out and lay in the initial groundwork. San Miguel Resident Director Abbi Gregory was on board to help with that piece.
“We also wanted it to be low-maintenance for our Groundskeeping team and low budget – we were able to reuse benches, rocks, some plants from other areas,” Burris explained, “the only thing we had to purchase was the decomposed granite for the path.”
Herrera shared that there are specific plant zones on campus, and San Miguel falls into the "Baja" zone so they chose plants indigenous to Baja California, including cacti and agaves, and everything wonderful seen there today.
For planning, Zobel met with Burris several times to put together a rough plan that would require little funding. A final plan was drawn up in Illustrator and then presented to HDAE Associate Vice Chancellor Willie Brown, who was “totally for it,” Zobel said. When you visit, you will notice a special plaque at the site in honor of Zobel, for his work and efforts to make this space a reality.
“We really envisioned a quiet space where students could sit and study or eat a meal and just enjoy the ambiance of the outside,” Burris said. “It was heartwarming to see students using the garden the day it was completed. I'm glad I was able to contribute to this wonderful project. Manuel's team did a phenomenal job with the landscaping – they truly made this vision come to life.”
