This piece explores themes of abandonment, memory, change, and the loss of childhood innocence. Once a beautiful and carefully maintained garden belonging to a family with a pet monkey, the space becomes forgotten after they move away in search of a better neighborhood. Left behind, the garden transforms into a place of decay, filled with discarded objects and an abandoned truck that represents the passing of time and the memories left behind. Like Esperanza’s experience in the Monkey Garden, the artwork represents a turning point between childhood and adolescence. While the neighborhood girls begin to explore new teenage experiences, Esperanza views the garden differently—as a place that reflects her own growth, uncertainty, and changing understanding of the world around her. The garden becomes a symbol of transformation, where memories of childhood exist alongside the realities of growing up. Made possible by the NEA Big Read Grant through Arts Midwest and the National Endowment for the Arts