Purdue Today

Did You Know: Interaction Garden

Nestled between Stanley Coulter Hall and Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry is a small garden full of plants, benches and inspirational quotes. Called Interaction Garden, the space is a memorial to alumna Martha Christine Butler and serves as a place to foster communication and thought for students, staff and visitors.

Butler graduated from Purdue in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in education and passed away from cancer in 1998. About 10 years ago, Butler's husband, David Butler, wanted to create a memorial to Martha to honor her compassionate and loving spirit.

"A great example of this is that a woman came to her at work one afternoon with a personal problem," said David Butler, also a Purdue graduate. "Marti listened, empathized with her situation and helped her make a decision that was tough. But instead of letting it stop there, Marti then sent her flowers the next day to thank her for coming to her."

Butler and family approached Purdue with the memorial idea. Through coordination between the family, Purdue's development office and the campus landscape architect, the Interaction Garden concept was developed, and the family's donation allowed the garden to become a reality.

Butler suggested a handful of inspirational quotes to decorate plaques on the garden floor, and a main plaque was dedicated to his wife.

A garden with seating and eleven bronze plaques were designed for the memorial. Quotes from great leaders such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa embellish the plaques alongside Stanley Coulter Hall.

Brick seat walls create a sense of enclosure around the garden while limestone portals establish entry into the garden. Boulders, benches and plants complete the memorial to Butler. Shrubs such as Japanese Kerria and Dwarf Fothergilla are in planting beds around the perimeter, and perennials also decorate the space.

"There will always be purple flowers in the garden because there are several stories about Marti giving purple flowers to the people she loved," David said.  "And although it sounds kind of mystical, purple flowers seem to appear in the gardens of people that she knew best, even when that person didn't plant them.

"I wish everyone could know the experience of receiving a purple flower," he said.

The main plaque describes the garden's purpose as "an opportunity to reflect on the value of compassion, tolerance, forgiveness and respect for the people in your life."

John Collier, director of campus master planning, designed the garden concept after hearing about Marti's giving personality during a long conversation and walk around campus with David Butler, during which a final site was selected. The area they chose was in need of development and was the perfect spot for the memorial, they decided.

From the garden one can see the spot where Martha and David met in 1971, at the crosswalks near John Purdue's grave. 
   
"These are the kind of spaces where people have opportunities to cross paths --  sit, talk and learn from one another and where I hope some great ideas are being created," Collier says. "I think establishing a space that does that is really important, and this project just lent itself beautifully to that concept."