Hood River Gallery Opens Immersive Garden Experience Amid Actual Garden
Visitors described the sensation of being outside
By Dot Klickitat · Gorge Patrol ·
A Hood River gallery has opened what it is calling an immersive garden experience, installed inside a garden that was already there.
The work, titled “Verdance: A Living Threshold,” opened Saturday at Confluence Gallery on Oak Street, inviting visitors to walk through a curated arrangement of plants, soil, and ambient outdoor conditions. An informational placard near the entrance describes the piece as “an unmediated encounter with the botanical sublime.”
“I kept waiting for it to start,” said Wendy Durfall, 54, of Mosier. “And then I realized I was standing in it. Which is to say, outside.”
Gallery staff confirmed the garden predates the installation by approximately eleven years and was previously used for parking overflow during the Harvest Festival.
A neighboring resident, reached near his compost bin, said he had been having the experience for free since 2015.
The exhibition runs through September.