The Chimpanzee Memorial Garden
By Renee Freier, Principal
In 2023 and 2024 Land Morphology volunteered our services to create a memorial garden for the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (CSNW) near Cle Elum, Washington. This non-profit organization, located on 113 acres of farm and forested land in the Cascade mountains, offers refuge to approximately 15 chimpanzees and is one of only a handful of sanctuaries in the country that cares for chimpanzees after they leave the entertainment, pet, and biomedical testing industries.
The Chimpanzee Memorial Garden plan offers CSNW staff and guests a peaceful place of gathering and reflection. Inspired by the exceptional personality of Jody, the first chimpanzee to be memorialized there, the design layers references to her unique character with broader symbolism about the habitat and behavior of chimpanzees.
Balancing regionally appropriate materials with gestures to the native environment and behavior of the chimpanzees, the elements of the design are influenced by contemporary artists, the natural topography, and views from the site. The connected lobes of the memorial function as a unified whole while creating space for circulation and moments of personal peacefulness and more public functions. Though this plan is artfully simple, it is fresh, dynamic, and rich in meaning.
Construction for Phase 1 of the garden began in 2024 and will expand over the years as funding becomes available.
The materials are reflective of the long-term needs and resources of the sanctuary, with a minimal, carefully selected palette of plants native or adapted to the semi-arid Eastern Washington environment.