A Thin Place

In 1956, Olive Higgins Prouty became the benefactor of a sacred healing garden, known worldwide as the Prouty Garden, at the famed Boston Children’s Hospital. The agreement was that the Olmsted-designed garden would exist, “as long as there are patients, families and staff to enjoy it.”

In 2012, the hospital administration began quietly moving forward with a plan to replace the half acre garden with a new billion-dollar medical complex. Hospital workers protested by starting an online petition and formed “The Friends of the Prouty Garden” to persuade the hospital to use one of the 14 other plans that would spare the Prouty Garden.

The filmmaker, Michael Bavaro, documented the Friends’ activity at the behest of his niece, Caitlin O’Hara, a lifelong patient with Cystic Fibrosis and a driving force behind the Friends’ campaign. The Friends used the law to speak truth to power, and created public awareness of the delicate balance of nature and the core values of the medical profession.

This retrospective is told by patients, families and staff, and pioneers of urban landscape architecture. It tells the story of Mrs. Prouty’s vision and unearths the forgotten history of the Longwood Medical area.