History of the Art Park
The story of the art park started with the thought of two friends “let’s finally do something nice together”. This idea eventually led them to ITE art and, through a few twists and turns, to the decision to buy an old abandoned market garden property in Hyvinkää, where an art park would be built (year 2022).
The market garden property had flourished from the 1950s until the 1980s. In its two large glass greenhouses and the courtyard, vegetables and various seedlings were once grown. The chickens lived in the barn on the edge of the yard and the villagers used to get fresh eggs from there. When the market garden stopped operating, the main building temporarily got a new life as a summer residence. Finally, in the 21st century, the property was left empty and the hand of time and nature began to shape it in a new direction. The buildings fell into disrepair, the yard became forested and the glass greenhouses turned into moss-covered ruins.
Construction from recycled materials
“When we arrived to see the property for the first time in the spring of 2022, we saw not only a dilapidated environment, but also a truly versatile and ideal place for ITE art”. Work on the property started in June 2022. Getting started was not easy. First, the access routes through dense vegetation were cleaned and cleared, and trees in poor condition or located on the route were felled. Wooden planks were sawn from these trees, which have been used e.g. a duckboards trail in the forest.
It was clear to us from the beginning that we wanted to build the ITE art park using recycled materials as much as possible. We used everything old that we could find on the property and we also fetched all the demolition stuff, such as old barn floorboards, hay bales, metal barrels, pallets, cable reels and the metal pen elements of one pig. Later, groups of tables were created from cable reels and pallets in the cafe area, and the cafe area was fenced off with pig pens. We built the cafeteria and toilets from an old shipping container.
A new page in the history of the market garden
The exhibition route goes around this old market garden. It starts from the duckboards, passes over the mossy greenhouse ruins into the forest and returns to the lovely apple orchard. The heart of the park is the summer terrace, which is located in an old apple orchard. It is the perfect place to catch your breath and let the surrounding nature and art inspire you. Here, the past and the present combine in a way that respects the history of the space but writes something new that we want to last for a long time!
Here, the past and the present combine in a way that respects the history of the space but writes something new that we want to last for a long time!
Middle of Nowhere Art Park
Koskenmaantie 187, 05510 Hyvinkää
+358 400 587 518
+358 400 491 537
info@middleofnowhere.fi
