Photos copyright FunCity Stuff.
If you’ve lived in North Texas for a while, you’ve probably been to the Dallas Arboretum. As ubiquitous as the Texas Rangers, Six Flags and Dr Pepper, the gardens attract hundreds of thousands of …BEES!
Bonus Fun Stuff:3 Trending Areas to Buy Homes in Dallas.
Ok, not the bees.
Just kidding! Visitors! Every year, hundreds of thousands of families and nature-lovers seek out a stroll and a picnic along the 66 acres of rolling landscaped hills and 500,000 blooms, plus exotic plants and water features.
A tiny waterfall of joy!
New this year is a bronze sculpture exhibit called The Great Contributors by artist Gary Price. Eight life-size sculptures are placed throughout the Gardens looking amiable, charming and downright whimsical. A bench is part of each work, giving us the opportunity to get up close and personal.
A chat about the current economy, no doubt.
We decided to pop in and check out the demo by Gary Price himself. He and his son showed us some initial steps in his molding process. He says he still needs to get her permission, but Oprah Winfrey is next on his “to bronze” list. And, he tells us, his piece “The Wright Brothers” is the first time unveiled ANYWHERE — and it’s right here at the Arboretum. Don’t you love being the first?
Price and his son hold sculpting demo in the Gardens
Price tells us he uses the “lost wax” method of sculpting, and that since bronze is about 98% copper, his works are heavy, easily withstanding weather and bear hugs. Price, a Utah native, clearly loves his work, and he’s eager to see what kind of reaction his bronzed beauties will get from Dallasites.
When you head over to the Gardens to take advantage of this incredible spring weather, enjoy this first week of Dallas Blooms, but keep an eye out for:
- Abraham Lincoln
- George Washington
- Benjamin Franklin
- Vincent Van Gogh
- William Shakespeare
- The Wright Brothers (their first time in public)
- Mark Twain
- Albert Einstein
The Original Gee Dub.
Air plant growing on rock of water feature
Hold this for me, will ya?
Renee’s hero, Albert Einstein
Tulips and daffodils and hyacinth OH MY!
A tiny waterfall of joy!
What’s over there, Ben?
The Wright Brothers holding a propeller
Van Gogh with works of his own.
Andi hugging on Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain
When you get to William Shakespeare, make sure you walk around to the back of his bench. You’ll find a bio inscribed on the back, with what appears to be Romeo and Juliet carved in miniature. From skull to quill, cherubs to lions, his bench has intricate details that the other benches mostly lack. This piece seemed the most exquisite of them all.
After we got to experience all eight sculptures, we sashayed over to the kids’ area. The Rory Meyer Children’s Adventure Garden has over 150 kids’ activities, says the brochure, but without any kids with us, it felt a bit stalkery. We did take a stroll through the Edible Garden, but a docent told us we couldn’t eat any of it. We acted like we had no intention of doing any such thing! So we got lunch at Cafe on the Green instead, thank you very much.
Super fools1 Er, foods. Part of the Children’s Garden.
Entrance to the Children’s Garden
The grand opening of Dallas Blooms, The Great Contributors exhibit and the Rory Meyer Children’s Adventure Gardens with lunch at Cafe on the Green made for a gorgeous spring morning! What do you think of the sculptures? Think you’ll be headed to the Arboretum this spring?
LOCATION
8525 Garland Rd
Dallas, TX | Route Map
TURF: White Rock Lake
WHAT MAKES IT FUN?
While it’s open year-round, Dallas Blooms is nature at her finest. (Until April 10, 2016.) Check site for music, events and activities at the Arboretum.
Categories: Fun Places
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How cool! I really want to visit Texas some day (I have a friend who lives in Austin and she raves about how amazing Texas is.) I’d love to see the Vincent Van Gogh bronze statue (he’s one of my favorite painters!) <3
What a fun day! I love the Shakespeare statue. Here in Mesa, Arizona we have a lot of bronze statues that they rotate on our Main Street which I always enjoy.
I’ve never heard of this place but I love gardens and so do my kids. We will have to visit Trxss for this and for food 🙂
Beautiful sculptures! It looks like you had an awesome time. The details in the work are beautiful, so cool to see them up close.
The bronze exhibit is amazing – what wonderful, detailed sculptures. What a talented artist! I love that you can get up close and personal.
When I read that sentence about the bees in the first paragraph . . . 🙂
I am always traveling through Dallas and now I have more reason to stop and check out some of the local scenery.
I’ve always loved bronze sculptures. It’s such a classic look, and it’s impressive how they can turn metal into something that looks like it’s alive.
These bronze statues sculptures are awesome! I will have to check these out the next time I am in Northern Texas.
This looks like such a fun place to visit! I love the pictures – you have definitely got an eye for the fun stuff! Happy travels.
This guy does do amazing work. I wonder if he had any pieces on display in Cedar City?
What I would give right now to have my nose in one of those flower beds! I can not wait for spring to come and am kicking myself that I forgot to plant bulbs last fall.
These sculptures are great! It’s amazing how detailed they are and it’s very cool that you get get up close with them.
I would love to see this bronze sculpture exhibit and all those beautiful flowers. Your photos are excellent. Thank you for sharing!
WOW! That kind of craftsmanship involves just blows my mind. The bronze sculptures looks so real 🙂
I really, really want to visit Texas! These are some really stunning sculptures 🙂
Those statues are beautiful! And what a neat experience to get to see a demo of how he works, I’m sure that was amazing. If we ever go to Dallas, we’ll have to visit there!
Stacey
http://www.goodmorningloretta.com
Since moving up near Denton, I haven’t been to the Arborteum in ages. I’d love to take my kids to see these. We’ll have to make a visit when the exhibit opens.
What a fun exhibit. Thanks for showing the different sculptures very interesting!