{"id":944160,"date":"2026-10-28T16:52:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T16:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944160\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T16:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T16:52:17","slug":"making-waves-with-garden-shears-topiary-artist-michael-p-gibson-transforms-savannah-museum-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944160\/","title":{"rendered":"Making waves with garden shears: Topiary artist Michael P. Gibson transforms Savannah museum garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Living art honors historic steamship journey at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum<\/p>\n

\"Frank<\/a>SAVANNAH, Ga. \u2014<\/p>\n

Most of us trim the shrubs hoping they look even. Michael P. Gibson has something a little more ambitious in mind: an ocean voyage.<\/p>\n

The nationally acclaimed topiary artist is making waves\u2014with garden shears instead of a boat\u2014at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum<\/a> in downtown Savannah.<\/p>\n

Gibson recently completed his \u201cfirst cut\u201d for \u201cThe Voyage,\u201d a living art installation that will transform greenery surrounding the historic Scarbrough House into sculpted waves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to make these look like waves and ripples in a storm,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cTo showcase in the shrubs and topiary, the form of the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n

The installation pays tribute to the SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. As the greenery grows and Gibson continues shaping it, visitors will get a sense of that journey without stepping aboard a ship.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually you\u2019re going to see these curves come up a lot more, these undulating curves, you\u2019re going to be able to see these grooves and be able to really feel the sea,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cSo when people walk around, I want you to feel like you\u2019re in the boat and you\u2019re surrounded by the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n

His signature approach, known as the Gibson Method, combines geometry, symbolism and storytelling to turn trees and shrubs into living artworks. For \u201cThe Voyage,\u201d his influences also include the museum\u2019s ironwork and the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical pattern reflected throughout nature.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Gibson has created more than 700 living sculptures in the United States over more than three decades, bringing his approach to more than 25 states through lectures, workshops and demonstrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always knew I was going to create something, I just had to find the right medium. And over time I just never stopped,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cSo for the past 33 years, I\u2019ve been doing topiary and sculpting trees and shrubs all over the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beneath the carefully shaped curves is a bigger idea. \u201cThe Voyage\u201d is also a metaphor for life, with its journey expressed through waves and living greenery.<\/p>\n

As The New York Times recently observed: \u201cFor Michael P. Gibson, topiary art isn\u2019t just clipping branches. It\u2019s a life lesson.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Gibson, the goal goes beyond creating something beautiful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to keep striving for is keep producing more topiary, because the more topiary in any given space produces more love and more peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Voyage\u201d officially debuts at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum in May 2027, with lectures, workshops and a garden party. Visitors can see the work taking shape in the meantime\u2014a garden adventure that is, quite literally, still growing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Living art honors historic steamship journey at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum SAVANNAH, Ga. \u2014 Most of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,16452,64,63,460,511318,134,511328,342289,511325,511327,511329,511324,511330,511313,511319,511315,511321,511316,511317,511322,511323,511320,511326,511314],"class_list":["post-944160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-atlantic-ocean","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-downtown-savannah","tag-entertainment","tag-fibonacci-sequence","tag-garden-party","tag-garden-shears","tag-gibson-method","tag-ironwork","tag-living-art","tag-may-2027","tag-michael-p-gibson","tag-savannah-georgia","tag-savannah-museum","tag-scarbrough-house","tag-ships-of-the-sea","tag-ships-of-the-sea-maritime-museum","tag-ss-savannah","tag-steamship","tag-the-voyage","tag-topiary-art","tag-topiary-artist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}