Louisville Ballet Welcomes Community Into A Healing Garden

Louisville Ballet welcomes the Louisville community to its Healing Garden downtown. On April 10, 2023, the Preston Pointe building on East Main St. became the site of a workplace massacre in which five people were killed and eight others were injured. "Trauma and grief from such an event can linger for years for witnesses, families, and friends, as well as entire communities," Louisville Ballet says. The need for communal healing inspired the creation of a Community Healing Garden outside the headquarters of Louisville Ballet, which is next door to Preston Pointe.

The garden was conceived by Louisville Ballet CEO Leslie Smart, who has experience with healing gardens and their benefits. As dancers and staff at Louisville Ballet were struggling to process the emotional trauma caused by the events at Preston Pointe, the company engaged with a social worker from Norton Healthcare to help facilitate their healing. "One of our expansive studio windows looks directly into the Old National space, and every time we pull into the parking lot or dancers take class, we look directly at the building," Smart says. "The social worker helped us retrain our brain to not revisit the trauma."

The session with the social worker inspired the idea of a healing garden for dancers, staff, and the community to take respite from anxiety and fear. The garden features a Gallopalooza horse inspired by Tchaikovsky's  Waltz of the Flowers from The Brown-Forman Nutcracker, designed by artist Andy Perez and donated by Kentucky Colonel Shannon Ralston through Brightside Foundation.

Donors, partners, and friends who helped fund the project include Kentucky Colonel Shannon Ralston ($20,000 gift), The KFC Foundation ($10,000 gift), garden designer Jon Carloftis, artist Andy Perez, and Michelle Black White of Brightside Foundation as well as in-kind donations from Realm Construction, Sherwin-Williams, and Signarama.

"The team that made this garden possible came together almost organically, with an initial gift from the KFC Foundation," Smart says. "Everyone was eager to do their part to create a healing environment for our community, and we are most grateful."

The dedication ceremony for the healing garden is May 8. Teddy Abrams, Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, will perform, and his performance will be followed by statements from Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.

The Louisville Ballet Community Healing Garden is open to the public.