23 | NWSLTR Rooted in Rhythm: How the CSU Seed to Bloom Botanical Garden Helped Kamille Austin Find Her Voice By: Cyril Ibe, interim Land-Grant Communications Coordinator
When Kamille Austin, a saxophonist from Cincinnati and music education graduate (2025) of Central State University, first wandered into the Seed to Bloom Botanical and Community Garden in spring 2022, she wasn’t searching for transformation. She was looking for a quiet place to practice her music. The Garden sits at the corner of state Route 42 East at Wilberforce-Switch Road on the Wilberforce, Ohio, campus. “I always rode past this garden, but I never went inside,” Kamille recalled. “So I decided to come in here and start practicing the saxophone with my friend.” The decision sparked an unexpected journey of growth — both musical and personal. It was on a fairly humid July evening when Kamille gave her last performance — at least for now — at the Garden, just a couple of weeks before heading to Belmont University in Nashville to pursue a master’s degree in commercial music composition and arranging. “It was very vibrant and colorful, and it felt like home. Just adding nature to my practice experience made me feel very whole.”
“It was very vibrant and colorful, and it felt like home. Just adding nature to my practice experience made me feel very whole,” Kamille recalled of the days she practiced at the Garden over the years. “I first met Kamille and another band member practicing at the Garden when I arrived to set up for a Saturday morning program,” recalled Clare Thorn, CSU Extension associate for Agricultural and Natural Resources. “As I engaged in conversation with Kamille, I shared more information about the development of the Garden, and I welcomed the fact that she and her friend chose the Garden to practice.”
the chance to share her talents in a relaxed and supportive setting. “Everyone was just so relaxed,” she remembered. “It felt like we were giving people a gift.” Thorn offered Kamille and her friends the opportunity to be student workers in the Garden. “Kamille readily stepped up with incorporating her musical talents with programs at the Botanical Garden, from our Winter Illumination program, Land-Grant Open House, solo performances and summer youth programs,” Thorn said. “She was a leader to other ANR student workers in coordinating the performances and musical selections.”
Finding Confidence in Nature
For Kamille, the Garden quickly became more than a practice space. It was a sanctuary where her music intertwined with the rustle of leaves and birdsong. “I had the wrong mindset with music before I started playing here,” she admitted. “But the Garden helped me discover myself and find my purpose. My confidence grew tremendously.”
Memorable Moments
Among Kamille’s favorite memories is leading a cultural dance program for visiting participants in a 4-H Youth Development program, teaching them about the traditions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in a vibrant outdoor classroom. Another highlight came with the solar eclipse, when the Garden filled with people from campus
Performances like Jazz in the Garden and cultural programs for youth gave Kamille
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