A healing garden and memorial in Moscow, built by students, is complete

A sprawling green field has been transformed into a structured garden with paths and a memorial. 

“Seeing it at the end, it was so rewarding,” said Jackson Wiedenfeld, an architecture student at the University of Idaho. He was one of the students who was part of the process from the beginning. 

Students collaborated together on the project for more than a year and a half. “It was paper on drawings at one point, so it was an awesome experience to see it all come together,” Wiedenfeld said. 

The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial, a place honoring University of Idaho students who have died while attending the school, will be officially dedicated in a celebration on Aug. 21.

The ceremony is open to the community, and will be held at 4:30 p.m. on the University of Idaho campus. 

Students from the university’s art and architecture programs started designing the space last fall. Construction happened over the summer. 

In this July 8 photo, students place one of the columns at the memorial. (Credit: Jackson Wiedenfeld)

Students poured concrete, did structural welding, installed irrigation and planted the foliage, Wiedenfeld said. 

Faculty members helped oversee the designs. Facilities at the university helped provide equipment and specialty tools, said Scott Lawrence, an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Idaho. 

“We learned so much, I can’t even describe how many different skills we learned over the process,” Wiedenfeld said.

Landscape architecture students were involved with the early stages of the project. It was then transitioned over to the architecture students, said Jodi Walker, executive director of communications for the university. 

“A variety of other students across campus have given input and feedback and helped with the ideation,” she said. “They realized they were building a legacy, something they knew was going to be at their alma mater long after any of us are around here anymore.”

Students spent summer days in temperatures above 100 degrees building the structure to ensure it was completed before the start of the fall semester, Walker said.

“It’s just incredible commitment and heart that has gone into this project,” she said. “We’re super proud of this.”

A sculpture in the garden was created to memorialize Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. The four U of I students were killed in November 2022.

Bryan Kohberger, the man arrested and charged with stabbing the four students to death, will face his murder trial next June.

Talking to the families of the victims was a big part of informing the design, Wiedenfeld said, and so was hearing from the community. 

Although there is a dedicated memorial to the four students, Wiedenfeld said the space was designed for all Vandal students who didn’t make it to graduation day. 

The university’s machine shop helped weld the base plates for the memorial columns. Students work on the structural ring in this photo from July 9. (Credit: Jackson Wiedenfeld)

“Whether you’re going through a loss or you’re just having a bad day, you are totally welcome in this space,” he said. 

Outsiders who have followed the case of the four students who were killed are often mistaken about the location of the garden, Walker said. 

Known as the King Road House, the off-campus home where the students were killed was torn down last December. The owner had given the house to the university, and people often assume the garden was constructed in its place, Walker said.

“The University of Idaho still owns that property, and it’s just a grassy spot at this point, there are no plans to do anything with it at this time,” Walker said. “The healing garden is in the heart of campus.”

The garden is on MacLean Field, between the university’s College of Education, Health and Human Services building and the Physical Education building.

“One of the most rewarding things about the project is going to be next Wednesday,” said Wiedenfeld. “I think the ceremony, to see everyone out there and to officially hand it off to the university and the public, it’s going to be super super rewarding.”

University of Idaho leadership will speak at the event, and so will students who were involved with the project, Walker said. Plaques for the four students who were killed in November 2022 will be revealed as part of the ceremony.

“The program should be fairly brief, and then people should be able to write messages to those they have lost,” Walker said. 

Part of the design involves a place for notes to be placed in the garden space. 

Funds to make the garden and memorial possible were raised from donations, Walker said. 

“We’ve had some incredible donors, large and small,” she said. “Donations are still being accepted, as we want to make sure we can maintain the amazing garden students have built.”

Trees and plants as part of the memorial were specifically chosen to give color to the garden year round despite the cold winters on campus, Wiedenfeld said. 

Many of the plants were chosen based on conversations with friends and family of the students who have died, Lawrence said.

“The plants are so young, it’s going to be amazing over the next few years once the plants start to grow,” Wiedenfeld said.