Plant lovers rejoice! Your local plant expert and supplier is the latest artist to join the group of creative artists at Cien Ojos Studio.
Cultivate Merced will officially open its space to locals on Saturday, May 3, with a grand opening planned inside the studio featuring live music, coffee, flowers, and, of course, plants from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sophia Leon, owner and curator of Cultivate Merced, caught up with the Times as she potted cactuses and grasses outside the Canal St. entrance to Cien Ojos Studios.
“There is nothing greater than being able to share space and to be loved the way these people are loving me,” Leon said of the Cien Ojos group welcoming her in. “It’s beautiful how they thought of me.”
Cultivate Merced’s addition to the downtown creative studio is expanding the list of entertainment and shopping experiences that the studio already offers. From music sessions and photography events, to coffee, art classes, community gatherings, ceramics, paint products, and flowers, the botanical pop-up is sure to fit right into the mix.
“I want people to check out the studio, explore the plants, and see all that Merced has to offer,” Leon said of her grand opening date. “It’s going to be a good time with good people and good music!”
Leon has a history of supplying plants and educating locals on common and exotic houseplants through hosting gardening workshops, selling at market events, and even providing plant maintenance services to local businesses. Her love for gardening began as a call back to her ancestry, and as a form of therapy during rough patches in her life.
“I’ve had to cultivate my new self through my journey and all of the downfalls and bumps in the road that I’ve had.” She shared of her struggles. “I’m loving on myself a little bit more now, respecting myself, and trying to spend more time with my family.”
Leon worked in the fields up until she was 25, gathering blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, using the money she made tending to the fields to pay her way through college. Her deep roots and sacrifice are shaped by the ancestral nostalgia gardening brings her and are carried through her passion for education, collaboration, and providing locals with diverse botanicals.
From her mother to her aunt, to her grandmother, who currently has nopales, mandarines, cherries, and onions growing in her backyard- the tie to growing and nurturing plants is tied to Leon’s lineage.
“I just want to move with intention and love,” she said. “Because what you are and what you plant is what you cultivate — and I am trying to cultivate good stuff for me!”
Beginning Saturday, May 3, Cultivate Merced will be located inside Cien Ojos Studios at 1740 Canal St. The plant shop will be open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. and 3:30-5 p.m. You can follow Leon’s plant story on Instagram @cultivatemmerced.
