Lecture Series with North Texas Artists and Master Gardeners
Garden Muse: Trees of North Texas
FREE
Thursday, November 7, 2024 | 7:00-9:00 PM
Bath House Cultural Center | Lake Level
521 E. Lawther Dr. Dallas, TX 75218
Featuring:
Erika Huddleston, Artist & Dallas County Master Gardeners Tree Team
Erika Huddleston
“My artwork is focused on the study of nature in urban settings.
I’ve made bodies of work recording Shoal Creek Greenbelt in Austin, Texas, the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas, Waco Creek in Waco, Texas, Jemison Park in Mountain Brook, Alabama, and the Ramble in Central Park in New York City.
Particularly, I am interested in better understanding how perceiving changing natural processes in an urban park setting can affect human psychology. Painting for long hours in park “urban wilderness” settings in cities around the world provides the means to stay onsite for longer periods of time for analysis and observation beyond a brief site walk. Painting provides a complimentary data-collection counterpart to digital mappings of landscapes and is a tactic for recording temporal change which is traditionally considered difficult to depict in plan. And, painting outdoors without an image or photograph is a welcome face-to-face interaction amidst my habits of texting and other digital interfaces.
All work is painted life-size and drawn and painted as seen from a sitting position in the landscape– whether a small flower or large branches.
I have a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture and a BA in Fine Arts.”
In February 2021, the Tarrant County Master Gardener Association offered a three day Zoom-based class, Tree and Tree Care Advanced Training. In addition to twenty-four hours of classroom training, over 60 participants from across Texas committed to perform 20 hours of tree-related volunteer service. The six Dallas County aspiring tree experts are: Zandra Faris, Cindy Large, Sandi Means, Alan Rister, Betsy See and Linda Seidel. In 2022, Nancy Griswold joined the team after completing the same course. With permission from the Horticulture Director of Texas Discovery Gardens, our volunteer action was to identify every tree on their 7.5 acres from June 2021 until September 2022.
The Tree Team is devoted to making sure the public understands why trees are important for your home landscape and the essential life on this planet. The right tree planted in the right place benefits us all. Due to severe climate issues and insect infestation, it is imperative to plant trees within your own “backyard”. The best tree is hardy, long-lived and thrives in Dallas County. Learn more about how you can change our little part of the world.
