Everyone has a garden in their heart. How can we cultivate that garden? 2026-06-01

Through "The Seasons"—a regular program run by Smilegate to support its members' emotional well-being and foster a healthy organizational culture—the company provided a special time for employees to look at artworks and cultivate the gardens in their hearts.

The theme for the 2026 program is "The Garden." It conveys the message that just as a garden changes with the seasons, our emotions also naturally shift and flow. Designed as a pause from busy daily routines and repetitive tasks, this year's program used art and hands-on experiences as mediums to help participants look into their own hearts and cultivate "their own unique gardens" at their own pace.

What kind of experiences did the participating members have? The Newsroom team shares their stories below.

Four Gardens, Four Perspectives

On April 20, as warm sunshine poured through the windows, the East Lobby of the Smilegate Campus was transformed into a small garden. Colorful flowers placed on the tables filled the space with a subtle fragrance. It was a time to look deep into one's heart through flowers and art.

Based on the results of a mind checklist completed before the event, vases filled with flowers tailored to benefit each participant's psychological state were placed on the desks alongside welcome cards.

The first session began with a moment to bring the flower that resembled one's own emotions close, slowly taking in its scent and form. It was a moment where minds naturally grew calm.

"Gardens" Richly Expressed in the Paintings of the Masters

Following this, a lecture on masterpieces by docent Choi Ye-rim began. It was a time to listen to the stories of different painters, focusing on the garden paintings printed on the four postcards placed at each seat.

Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Raoul Dufy, and Bernard Buffet. Although they all painted the same subject—a "garden"—the works of these four artists contained entirely different stories.

Monet, even amidst the despair of losing his eyesight, left the message, "My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece," through the Giverny garden he cultivated himself. Renoir, using hands stiffened by illness, offered comfort by stating, "The pain passes, but the beauty remains," through a garden filled with light. Dufy showcased his attitude toward life by saying, "I have always smiled at my life," through the cheerful gardens and studios he painted despite endless war and illness. Buffet, through his restrained yet bold works, conveyed a candid attitude toward life with the message, "I am not interested in painting beauty."

With their respective flower vases by their side, the employees listened closely to the stories capturing the lives and philosophies of the four painters, taking a moment to quietly look into their own hearts and the flow of their emotions in daily life.

Completing My Own Garden

After the lecture, the employees added flowers into their vases inspired by the paintings of the artist they felt most drawn to among the four masters. By combining their original emotions with the new feelings discovered through "The Seasons" program, they completed their own unique, one-of-a-kind miniature gardens.

The combination of flowers held in each person's hands was entirely unique. Even those who started with the same emotional profile chose different artists, while others with different profiles found themselves drawn to the same master. Just like the painters who left behind vastly different perspectives on the single theme of a "garden," the participants also captured their inner selves in their vases, each in their own distinct way.

As flowers reflecting individual emotions and perspectives came together, a single garden mirroring "the me of today" was beautifully completed.

It was a time to stroll through the artists' gardens, encounter unnoticed emotions, embrace diverse feelings, and bloom a small flower within the garden of one's heart. Long after the program ended, a beautiful garden painted with each participant's unique colors and emotions remained in the space.

Moving forward, Smilegate plans to continue its efforts to support employees' emotional well-being and foster a healthy organizational culture through "The Seasons" series.