The Garden Club of Indian River County recently released its 30th Christmas ornament – appropriately showcasing the Garden Club itself and its ‘clubhouse’ building in downtown Vero Beach. The ornament is the latest of the sought-after collectibles, each of which have highlighted local landmarks, and all but one artistically designed by artist Arundathi (Arun) Wijetilleke.’
Wijetilleke explains that the idea began percolating after Natalie Jackson’s husband was sent a Christmas ornament portraying the hospital where he had been born. His sister had purchased the gift, which had been produced as a fundraiser for her own local garden club.
“I was in the Garden Club at that time, and Nat (Jackson) had been there for a while,” says Wijetilleke, adding that Jackson thought it might be a great fundraising idea here as well.
“She said maybe we could do something like this of historical places in Vero Beach. I mean, we don’t have such a long history, but there are places of some significance. As you know, there are many things that are of interest.”
It was a go, and Wijetilleke designed their inaugural ornament, the Vero Beach Railroad Station, in 1992.
“I think we did only about 900 that year, because we never thought they would sell,” she says, noting that, instead, the ornaments quickly sold out. They now produce roughly 2,000 ornaments each year.
Wijetilleke recalls the committee had taken a while to decide what to put on the ornament the second year, and in the meantime she had left for a trip to visit family in Sri Lanka, where Arun and husband, Dr. Asoka Wijetilleke, a pediatrician, were born. The couple has lived in Vero Beach since 1975.
As she wasn’t here to design it, the 1993 Ocean Grill ornament was made from a photograph.
“That’s why it is much smaller than the rest,” says Wijetilleke, who has designed every ornament since then.
The committee decides upon a subject each January, and Wijetilleke says it takes her three or four months to create a design.
“You have to be creative about it, because some of these buildings are not the most beautiful looking. And there’s a brochure. Nat writes about the history and significance of the place to Vero Beach. I think it probably is a good way of telling people about the history of Vero,” says Wijetilleke.
She pointed out that the 2009 Vero Beach Woman’s Club was one of the lesser-known buildings. “Nat wrote a beautiful history about it, that it was Vero’s first library. People who didn’t know about these places began to realize, ‘Oh my goodness, we do have a history.’”
Over the course of time, a few of the site names have changed. For instance, the Vero Beach Museum of Art was known as the Center for the Arts in 2000, and the Jackie Robinson Training Complex was known as Dodgertown when it was represented in 1995. Fortunately, they did manage to create an ornament representing the old Merrill Barber Bridge as a drawbridge before it was torn down and replaced by the new bridge.
Wijetilleke says her creative process begins with a pencil sketch, followed by a color design.
“The first few years we did very few colors. If you look at the 1992 ornament, I think we have only two colors as they are very expensive,” Wijetilleke explains. “And then, as the sales and the number of products we were producing increased, we started using more and more colors. So if you look at the 1992 one and last year’s, you see it’s very colorful.”
Each year’s subject, known only to the small ornament committee, is kept top secret until it is made available in stores. In the past, she says, people would ask what the ornament was going to be, but everyone stayed mum. “Now they know not to ask.”
Wijetilleke says her interest in art was piqued as a child, when her father encouraged and nurtured her talents – to a point. By the age of 12, she had sold her first paintings, and she continued to pursue her interest while in high school.
“But then he didn’t want me to become an artist. He said ‘no, no, no, you can paint on the side.’
But that’s all right. I loved going to college, but art has been my happy thing.”
Wijetilleke obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of London in Sri Lanka, where she studied law.
“I wish I could have practiced law, but it was British law, and I would have had to go back to law school, at least for a couple of years.” Instead, she raised their three children – and is now enjoying being a grandparent – and threw herself into the community and her art.
She has served on numerous boards, including those of McKee Botanical Garden and the Vero Beach Museum of Art. An award-winning artist and floral designer, Wijetilleke is a member of the Vero Beach Art Club and is a nationally and internationally accredited Master Flower Show Judge. Some of her commissioned work can be viewed at Christ by the Sea United Methodist Church and the Citrus Museum, adjacent to the Heritage Center.
Wijetilleke’s painting, “The Bridge at McKee Gardens,” was chosen last year to represent Indian River County in a four-county art competition held by the Jensen Beach nonprofit, Helping People Succeed, for its 2021 Art for Living calendar. Her painting is on the December page.
Wijetilleke designed this year’s Christmas ornament to highlight the active role the Garden Club has played in the community over more than nine decades, including its innumerable beautification projects throughout Indian River County.
The club has provided landscape assistance to area nonprofits; among them, McKee Botanical Garden, the Vero Beach Theatre Guild, the GFWC Vero Beach Woman’s Club, Hallstrom House, the Gifford Youth Achievement Center, the Brackett Library and the Heritage Center. They also provide scholarships to Indian River State College and the Scholarship Foundation of Indian River County.
Flowers Shows – the next one in March 2022 – are held every other year in their facility to educate the public on floral design and horticulture. And the weekend of Feb. 5-6, 2022, the club will host the 20th anniversary its ever popular Gardenfest! at Riverside Park.
For information about where to purchase ornaments and about the club itself, visit gardenclubofirc.org.
Photos by Kaila Jones
