Interview with Carole Meckes - Founder of Bamboo Central
Carole Meckes is the main organizer of the Bamboo Festival in Austin, Texas. During the festival, she aims to show the beauty, flexibility and durability of bamboo in various mediums, from installation art to architecture. We here are Pieces were lucky enough to interview Carole Meckes on the formation of the the Bamboo Festival and her long-term goals of introducing bamboo to the general public.
How did you become interested in bamboo?
I got interested in bamboo in 1991 when I purchased a house that had an established bamboo grove on the property. Much of my bamboo is on a slope and I estimate that it was planted in the 1950's for erosion control. I was immediately excited to have an opportunity to live near bamboo and learn about growing and using this valuable resource.
What brought you to organize the bamboo events in Austin?
In the spring of 1992, I was introduced to theTexas Bamboo Society, which at that time was a new chapter of the American Bamboo Society Herb Hillery, the founder of the Texas Bamboo Society wanted to have a "Bamboo Festival" and in 1993 the first Annual Texas Bamboo Festival was held in Austin at Zilker Botanical Garden http://www.zilkergarden.org The bamboo festival is the annual fund raising event for the Texas Bamboo Society which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. I've had the pleasure of being part of all 17 of the Texas Bamboo Festivals and have been organizing the event for 'a while'. The planning committee is currently working on the 18th Annual Texas Bamboo Festival which will be held in 2010 and the details will be available soon at Bamboo Central.
From its inception, how has the bamboo event progressed, what has changed over the course of the years, what has stayed the same?
The event has progressed from one day to become a 2 day event and includes speakers on various bamboo topics, bamboo related vendors and a live bamboo plant and object auction. Sometime the festivals have included hands-on workshops and we have had a "starcage" workshop, a panpipe workshop and a kite making workshop.
What is your goal for bamboo society and bamboo central? Are you focusing more on educating the public on uses of bamboo or is it more of a way for people to appreciate such a versatile plant?
The goals for the Texas Bamboo Society are to further educate the public about the many different species of bamboo that might grow best in specific climates, provide information and plant material for the identification, propagation, use and culture and appreciation of bamboos, promote the utilization of a group of desirable species for distribution to public gardens and to the general public and to support bamboo research in the field.
re: bamboo central:
The bamboocentral website is a site that I maintain myself is not affiliated with any organization. Originally, I was the newsletter editor for the Texas Bamboo Society and the newsletter was called "bamboocentral" and a bamboo friend that had that domain name asked me if I would like to take the domain over and it sounded like a good idea so I did. Since it is not affiliated with any specific organization, I am free to use the site as I wish and I use it to help to promote bamboo events especially the Annual Texas Bamboo Festival.
How successful has the Taniguchi Garden Restoration been and what drove you to begin this project?
The Taniguchi Japanese Garden was created in 1969 and the Restoration Project was started about 3 years ago by a group of people that are involved in the Austin Area Garden Council and Zilker Botanical Garden. I just joined in on the band wagon and volunteer time in the bamboo groves on the 3rd Saturday of each month from 10 am - 1 pm working with the bamboo plantings there attempting to groom and beautify the bamboo garden. Other people often participate in the work days. The goal of the Taniguchi Garden Restoration Project is to maintain the garden in the most traditional fashion possible.
Why did you choose to focus on promoting bamboo versus other plants/causes?
I choose to work with bamboo because I am fascinated by all the things that you can do with it and also enjoy meeting other people who share this common interest. I just returned from attending the Annual Meeting and Conference of the American Bamboo Society in Tacoma, Washington and thoroughly enjoyed the programs that the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the American Bamboo Society planned.
Anything else you'd like to add?
There are several bamboo chapters of the American Bamboo Society that meet in different parts of the United States and that also hold various events: Northeast Chapter, SE Chapter, Midwest Chapter, Pacific Northwest, Northern California, SoCal, Tierra Seca (Arizona), Texas Bamboo Society, Louisiana Gulf Coast Chapter, Florida Caribbean Chapter and the Hawaii Chapter.
The Louisiana Chapter will be hosting an annual event in Avery Island, LA on Feb 19-20, 2010 honoring the 100th anniversary of the planting of a grove of moso bamboo.
The next Annual Meeting of the American Bamboo Society will be held in Savannah, GA on Nov. 4-7, 2010 at a tour of the Bamboo Coastal Gardens where bamboo was first introduced in the USA will be part of the planned activities at that meeting.
All of these events will be posted in the calendar at the Bamboo Arts and Craft Network which is a educational site founded by Mark and Carole Meckes in 2001. The Bamboo Arts and Craft Network includes a discussion forum and 3 galleries - a gallery for Bamboo Arts and Crafts, Bamboo Flora and Fauna and a Bamboo Workshop Gallery. The Bamboo Arts and Craft Network is a non-profit educational site and is not affiliated with any other formal organization and is funded by private donations.