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Jul 07, 2023

Lush, green ‘living wall’ art installation returns to historic Grand Rapids hotel

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A large plant-covered art installation is making a big

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A large plant-covered art installation is making a big impression on those in downtown Grand Rapids with accents of red, lime green and pink vegetation.

The abstract work that is about 12 feet tall and spans 65 feet is on the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel along Pearl St NW.

LiveWall, a Nunica company that builds vertical "living wall" structures, designed the installation's structure and grew the plants. Everett's Landscape Management, of Grand Rapids, placed the plants onto the wall on Tuesday, May 30.

"(LiveWall installations are) a really nice way to add sort of texture and color into what might be an otherwise boring ordinary wall," said Anna Droz, who works as a strategic educator at LiveWall.

It's the second year the historic hotel, 187 Monroe Ave. NW, has featured a LiveWall installation.

This year's version showcases pink sunpatiens, Ruby Slipper coleus and Lime Time coleus plants.

LiveWall designs plant walls composed of planter boxes with an irrigation system for both indoor and outdoor spaces. The outdoor walls can provide habitat for pollinators and birds, Droz said.

The wall's structure is also designed so the plant stems are naturally oriented upward, instead of sideways, along the vertical wall, she said.

Alex Lara, who works as a landscape designer and sales at Everett's, said the plants for this installation were selected for the foliage.

"(The plants) will take about a month to mature and they will stay looking good until the first frost," Lara said.

Alex Lara, from Everett's Landscape Management, works to build a plant-covered art installation outside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com

Garrett Duthler, from Everett's Landscape Management, places plants onto the wall. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com

Ruby Slipper coleus plants, top, and Lime Time coleus plants, are part of the installation. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com

Alex Lara, from Everett's Landscape Management, shows plans for the plant-covered art installation. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com

Construction the plant-covered art installation outside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com

See more photos of the event in the picture gallery below or click here to view the gallery.

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