Garden of Tranquility -- Spring Garden Celebration

For many years, Rachel Schanberg and other friends of the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program and the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center dreamed of a garden where patients, families and staff members could enjoy a beautiful, tranquil area as a respite from the clinic routine.

That dream became a reality when the Seese-Thornton Garden of Tranquility was formally dedicated on November 8, 2003.

The garden contains a beautiful sculpture The Promise by gifted artist John Safer. The shape is simple, but evocative. The upward spiraling form is traditionally one of hope, a feeling echoed by the title of the work.

The sculptor states, “It is my goal that the sculpture, along with its ambience of a lovely natural setting, will carry the viewer away from the cares of the world...”

Each year, we host the annual Spring Garden Celebration to celebrate the sense of life and hope brought by the garden. We also dedicate newly named trees, benches, and bricks, and the donors and honorees named in the Garden of Tranquility.

For more information about the Spring Garden Celebration or to make a contribution to the Garden, please contact Mia Shackleford at 919-684-4497.