Audio Description: Tomorrow's Garden
by Jared Jennings and Central Campus Students
Press play and discover Jared Jennings and the 2024 Central Campus Student's painting Tomorrow's Garden. Hear a detailed description of the artwork, descriptions of the colors and forms in the painting, and how the artist made the work. (Closed captions available on video.)
Tomorrow's Garden, Jared Jennings and Central Campus Students, 2024, Oil
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Tomorrow’s Garden is an 18 by 10 foot mural located inside Central Campus, Neosho’s alternative high school. It was painted with interior oil based house paint directly on a wall opposite the exit door of Harmon Hall. Tomorrow’s Garden was painted and designed by Jared Jennings in collaboration with Central Campus students and staff. Following the visual description will be more information about some of the choices made in that collaboration.
Starting in the work’s center front, we see earth tilled into rows of mounded dirt forming a garden. This garden is framed by large, ripe produce. The left side of the work is filled with a rounded, yellow squash surrounded by its leafy green vine. The right has a round, red tomato with its bright green top (sepal and peduncle) intact and a deep orange carrot slightly behind, it’s tip pointing up toward the upper right corner of the work - it’s green leafy top (carrot greens) just seen peeking out from the bottom left side of the tomato. Evergreen trees make up the top corner of the right side lining the horizon in the background.
Moving back to the garden, we spy three leafy sprouts popping out of the center row, evenly spaced. Peanut, a calico cat stalks through that row, low to the ground, its tail up and flicked slightly to the side. Behind the cat, we see the tilled rows merge with a small pile of dirt that has been tipped from a red wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow is balanced on its front bar and nose; the brown handles point straight up toward the bright blue sky that is filled with white fluffy clouds.
In the center of the background, we see an homage to the place where the alternative school started, The Jefferson Street Campus stretching from the center toward the left, behind and beyond the leafy vine of the squash. The building is composed of a greyish, light brown stone that has been fixed together with grey concrete in a giraffe rock architecture style which is regionally specific to the Ozarks. The edge of the building, in the center background, has four, rectangular windows - two stacked over another two. Each window is dark and made of six panes of square glass.
In 1996 the Neosho School District opened Jefferson Street Campus, a new alternative academic program to serve at-risk students. The Jefferson Street Campus building had a rich history of serving students. Built in 1940 adjacent to the then Neosho High School (later Intermediate School) the building was known as the Lanagon Stone Building and was home to vocational classes and later music and art classes.
In 2023 the program was moved from its Jefferson Street location to the former Central Elementary building. The school was renamed Central Campus, honoring both past and present students.
One of the original purposes of this mural was to give the high schoolers the opportunity to add their mark to the new campus which had formerly been an elementary school. Thanks to a grant from the Missouri Arts Council, Jared Jennings served as an artist-in-residence at the school. He met with students to discuss a list of possible themes that staff had brainstormed. “Growth” and “new beginnings” resonated with the students the most and the consensus quickly became to feature the campus’ garden which was established in 2013. This garden not only teaches gardening skills, but has also enhanced the curriculum of classes on site - such as cooking and making birdhouses from gourds (featured on the left side of the mural). The reason carrots and tomatoes are featured, is because carrots have been a good luck crop for the students and the gardening class makes a point of growing heirloom varieties of tomatoes that produce viable seeds for a self-sustaining practice.
The mural’s placement - the wall opposite the exit door of Harmon Hall, named in honor of Brenda Harmon the first director of the alternative school program, - puts it between where food is eaten and where food is grown in the garden.
The cat in the mural is a direct representation of a stray cat student’s cared for at the Jefferson Street location until a forever home was located. Students named the cat Peanut in honor of the work of famed agricultural scientist George Washington Carver.
Carver, who was born in nearby Diamond Grove, was unable to attend the local whites-only school and in 1872 began attending the Neosho Colored School to begin his education. Not unlike the students who attend Central Campus today, Carver had to overcome obstacles to obtain his education. Today Central Campus provides students with an opportunity to succeed when other avenues have closed. Peanut walking across the freshly tilled garden soil is symbolic of the fresh start students can find at Central Campus.
The Red Wheelbarrow depicts an actual red wheelbarrow the school uses in the garden. It was purchased as an allusion to William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Red Wheelbarrow,” an imagist poem meditating on the role a simple implement plays in life-sustaining work.
Starting in the work’s center front, we see earth tilled into rows of mounded dirt forming a garden. This garden is framed by large, ripe produce. The left side of the work is filled with a rounded, yellow squash surrounded by its leafy green vine. The right has a round, red tomato with its bright green top (sepal and peduncle) intact and a deep orange carrot slightly behind, it’s tip pointing up toward the upper right corner of the work - it’s green leafy top (carrot greens) just seen peeking out from the bottom left side of the tomato. Evergreen trees make up the top corner of the right side lining the horizon in the background.
Moving back to the garden, we spy three leafy sprouts popping out of the center row, evenly spaced. Peanut, a calico cat stalks through that row, low to the ground, its tail up and flicked slightly to the side. Behind the cat, we see the tilled rows merge with a small pile of dirt that has been tipped from a red wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow is balanced on its front bar and nose; the brown handles point straight up toward the bright blue sky that is filled with white fluffy clouds.
In the center of the background, we see an homage to the place where the alternative school started, The Jefferson Street Campus stretching from the center toward the left, behind and beyond the leafy vine of the squash. The building is composed of a greyish, light brown stone that has been fixed together with grey concrete in a giraffe rock architecture style which is regionally specific to the Ozarks. The edge of the building, in the center background, has four, rectangular windows - two stacked over another two. Each window is dark and made of six panes of square glass.
In 1996 the Neosho School District opened Jefferson Street Campus, a new alternative academic program to serve at-risk students. The Jefferson Street Campus building had a rich history of serving students. Built in 1940 adjacent to the then Neosho High School (later Intermediate School) the building was known as the Lanagon Stone Building and was home to vocational classes and later music and art classes.
In 2023 the program was moved from its Jefferson Street location to the former Central Elementary building. The school was renamed Central Campus, honoring both past and present students.
One of the original purposes of this mural was to give the high schoolers the opportunity to add their mark to the new campus which had formerly been an elementary school. Thanks to a grant from the Missouri Arts Council, Jared Jennings served as an artist-in-residence at the school. He met with students to discuss a list of possible themes that staff had brainstormed. “Growth” and “new beginnings” resonated with the students the most and the consensus quickly became to feature the campus’ garden which was established in 2013. This garden not only teaches gardening skills, but has also enhanced the curriculum of classes on site - such as cooking and making birdhouses from gourds (featured on the left side of the mural). The reason carrots and tomatoes are featured, is because carrots have been a good luck crop for the students and the gardening class makes a point of growing heirloom varieties of tomatoes that produce viable seeds for a self-sustaining practice.
The mural’s placement - the wall opposite the exit door of Harmon Hall, named in honor of Brenda Harmon the first director of the alternative school program, - puts it between where food is eaten and where food is grown in the garden.
The cat in the mural is a direct representation of a stray cat student’s cared for at the Jefferson Street location until a forever home was located. Students named the cat Peanut in honor of the work of famed agricultural scientist George Washington Carver.
Carver, who was born in nearby Diamond Grove, was unable to attend the local whites-only school and in 1872 began attending the Neosho Colored School to begin his education. Not unlike the students who attend Central Campus today, Carver had to overcome obstacles to obtain his education. Today Central Campus provides students with an opportunity to succeed when other avenues have closed. Peanut walking across the freshly tilled garden soil is symbolic of the fresh start students can find at Central Campus.
The Red Wheelbarrow depicts an actual red wheelbarrow the school uses in the garden. It was purchased as an allusion to William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Red Wheelbarrow,” an imagist poem meditating on the role a simple implement plays in life-sustaining work.
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Mural Location
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Central Campus
Inside 301 Big Spring Dr Neosho, MO 64850 This mural is inside a public school. Visitors are welcome to view the mural during the school day. It's suggested to call ahead at 417.451.8616. For the safety of students, all building visitors must show valid identification prior to entering the building. Valid IDs are non-expired and state-issued with a photo. |
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Additional Content
Process Photos
Thanks to a grant from the Missouri Arts Council, Jared Jennings served as an artist-in-residence at Central Campus in early 2024. He met with students to discuss a list of possible themes that staff had brainstormed. “Growth” and “new beginnings” resonated with the students the most and the consensus quickly became to feature the campus’ garden which was established in 2013. The following photos show the evolution of the creative design process.
Students brainstormed ideas and created small sketches. Jared then worked on a rough draft sketch. Students worked with digital copies of the design and started experimenting with colors. Finally, Jared created a color study mock up of the mural to see how the design would look using paints and ambient lighting.
Students brainstormed ideas and created small sketches. Jared then worked on a rough draft sketch. Students worked with digital copies of the design and started experimenting with colors. Finally, Jared created a color study mock up of the mural to see how the design would look using paints and ambient lighting.
Jared Jennings served as an Artist in Residence at Central Campus in 2024.
The following are a selection of progress photos as Jared Jennings and Central Campus Students painted Tomorrow's Garden.
Central Campus Student Artists
Central Campus Students made extensive contributions to the mural:
- Teagan Swain
- Isabell Owens
- Daihnde Pojoy
- Justin Rockwell
- Kaleb Cochran
- Jakiya Hodges
- Toby Kroll
- Brooklyn Pendergraft
- Gezer Villatoro
- Ariana Craddock
- Cora Hawkins
- Lance Kesinger
- Sutaro Tio
- Sebastian Perez
- Andrew Allphin
- Julio Colston
- Jany-Lein Laurdine
- Daisy Perez-Wormington
- Dana Sanchez
- Keyton Brady
- Jasmin Crespo
- Evie Gardner
- Yomaris Hernandez
- Kaleb Patterson
- Preston Swain
- Dakota Vineyard
- Andreonna Voss
- Cooper Williams
- Devin Willoughby
- Alexis Youngblood
- Emiley Crain
- Brandon DeHoyos
- Montana Giurbino
- Daniel Hayes
- Cherish Hetiback
- Aiden Johnson
- Lucas Luevano
- Darli Macario
- Abigail Rasmussen
- Evyn Sharp
- Karna Tio
- Nick Ward
- Braydon Woodcock
- Megan Burkybile
- Samuel Dayton
- Luca Price
- Carlos Wormington