New gardens on view at Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art

Michael Strueber can be found in one of two places at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art: sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, sipping coffee with just a dash of cream, or in one of the site’s seven gardens, elbow deep in soil.

Director emeritus of SAMA, Strueber, 73, recently led the charge of a revitalization project to revamp the gardens at the museum off Boucher Lane in Ligonier Township.

He knows the SAMA gardens like the back of his well-worn hands. He oversaw their original design 26 years ago with the help of other artists and avid gardeners such as Tina Thoburn, Connie Pilz, Betty Gamble, Madelon Sheedy, Ingrid Rea and Sandy Mellon.

Just before the museum’s grand opening in 1997, he and other site leaders put an ad in local papers, calling for locals to bring their favorite perennials to the site to be planted.

After more than a quarter-century of maintenance, site leaders decided it was time for a change to the original layout and have since created seven unique gardens – each one with a respective theme, including a butterfly garden and a tropical garden featuring a fountain sculpture by Ligonier artist Jack Mayer.

Strueber is an avid gardener. He keeps a personal garden at his home that is often used for wedding photos and relied upon his knowledge of plant life and maintenance throughout the course of the SAMA revitalization project.

For 11 days this summer, Strueber put in 12-hour days with his crew to completely transform the gardens. Rather than hiring an arborist, he and his team cut and trimmed trees, pulled countless weeds and hauled wheelbarrows of foliage away to make room for new plants.

Leaving from his Hollidaysburg home at a 5:45 a.m., he often didn’t return until 6:30 p.m.

“I’ll venture and say that there is no other museum director in the United States, that’s retired, that shows up (to their museum) and works 12 hours a day,” Strueber said. “It’s a labor of love and it needed to be done. The facility means a lot to me and I retired 23 years ago, but they won’t let me go.”

An accomplished painter, Strueber meticulously designed each area, even considering how the plants’ colors will coordinate with the museum building. Many of the plots incorporate native materials such as walls made from Pennsylvania sandstone. Woven throughout the plots of shrubs, ornamental trees and perennials are sculptures made by local and global artists that seamlessly connect one garden to the next.

To add even more dimension to the scenery, the crew ordered 18 boulders weighing a total of 15 tons from a landscaper in Hollidaysburg. Strueber added some rare plants for visitors to enjoy, including his personal favorite, a weeping purple beech tree.

“I’m an artist,” Strueber said. “A garden like this is like a gigantic painting that’s never finished. We’re always tweaking it and adding things.”

Strueber predicts that it will take one to two years for the plants to fully bloom and “spread out.” He hopes that by then, the museum will have gained volunteers that are able to help with maintenance, such as watering and weeding.

“Initially, these were just beautiful gardens,” Strueber said. “I think flowers should be in front of everyone’s house, in front of any institution. It’s a way to say ‘Hello, we welcome you, come in.’”