the four seasons
garden photography contest
presented by The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden and D Home and Garden
we invited children and amateur and professional photographers to descend upon the Dallas Arboretum with cameras and participate in our first-ever photo competition. Our motives were many and varied. First, we wanted more people to visit the Arboretum and figured a contest would draw some new faces. Second, the Arboretum is always looking for artwork, and this seemed like a swell way to get some photography.
Some photography? We received more than 700 entries over the course of the year. Judging 700-plus photographs is no walk in the park, so to speak, so a major thank you goes to the judges: Talley Dunn, co-owner of Dunn and Brown Contemporary; Nic Nicosia, an artist who works in photography and film; and Todd Johnson, design director of D Home and D Magazine. These three spent hours poring over piles and piles of negatives, transparencies, slides, and prints. Each entry was precious in its own way, but some snapshots stood out from the rest. Here, in the pages that follow, is the wonderful work they recognized as the best.
Amateur Floral
First Place |
Second Place |
Third Place |
Amateur People in Nature
First Place |
Second Place |
Third Place |
Amateur Experimental
First Place |
Second Place |
Third Place |
First Place |
Second Place |
Third Place |
Children Experimental
First Place Chase Hoover |
Second Place Chase Hoover |
Third Place Jessika Stewart |
Children People in Nature
First Place |
First Place |
Second Place |
Third Place |
Professional People in Nature
First Place |
Professional Experimental
First Place |
Yet in the paradoxical way the world works, Mary is creating the most astonishing, even audacious, garden in Dallas. Rather than seeds, she has sown the ideas of the best and the brightest horticultural experts, planners, and civic leaders—and, to achieve that end, has also probably endured a thousand meetings. Gardening can be very hard work.
This little map is the first look at the second phase of the Arboretum’s master plan. The plans call for a new path throughout the Arboretum to accommodate walkers and vehicles separately, as well as (my favorite) a Children’s Garden; a new stage for the concert lawn; Skyline Hall, a dramatic event facility overlooking White Rock Lake; greenhouses installed over underground parking; moonlight gardens; better research beds; and more take-home gardening ideas presented on-site, to give you just an idea.
Certainly, the plans will require more meetings, much debate, and the awesome responsibility to preserve the integrity of the garden, nay, improve upon it. But I have complete confidence that great things lie ahead.
The way I look at it, if I help to support that Children’s Garden now, it should be ready for my grandchildren just about the time I want to retire. That’s my plan, anyway.
Please join me in supporting the Dallas Arboretum.
—Christine Allison