Garden Muse is an ongoing lecture series for those inspired by nature. In collaboration with the Dallas County Master Gardeners and local DFW artists, Garden Muse aims to pair a Master Gardner garden lesson with a creative activity led by practicing local artist or art educator.

Lecture Series with North Texas Artists and Master Gardeners

Garden Muse

FREE

Thursday, January 30, 2025 | 7:00-9:00 PM 

Bath House Cultural Center | Black Box Theater

521 E. Lawther Dr. Dallas, TX 75218

Featuring:

“Studies of Land and Self”, Karla Garcia, Artist
&
“Succulents”, Gina Woods, Dallas County Master Gardener

Karla Garcia

b. 1977,  Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Represented by 12.26 Gallery, Dallas, Texas.

Karla García is a Texas-based artist originally from Mexico, who creates sculptural landscape installations crafted from clay. Her thought-provoking artwork is deeply rooted in her Mexican heritage, including her personal and ancestral history. Through her research-based approach, she explores the enduring resilience of our humanity by observing the effects of the environment on the landscapes that surround us.

García earned an MFA in Ceramics and a Museum Education Certificate from the University of North Texas in May 2019. García exhibits nationally, and has received multiple awards, including the Nasher Artist Grant, the Top Prize at Artspace 111, and the US Consulate in Mexico award for her binational exhibition, “La Línea Imaginaria.” García has been published in the Nasher Magazine, Southwest Contemporary, Scallawag Magazine, Glasstire, and NPR: Morning Edition, among others. Her recent work includes Shifting Ground at 12.26 Gallery, Chateau Show iii, and is currently a Sandhills Institute Fellow for an upcoming project in Rushville, Nebraska. 

More information about the artist, check out:

https://www.karlamichellgarcia.com/

Gina Woods

Gina became interested in gardening when she moved to a ranch in Mexico in 1987. She was fascinated with orchids and wanted to have a career even though job opportunities were limited in rural Mexico for an American who could not speak the language. In 1991 she built her first two orchid shade houses and became the first commercial, cut-flower dendrobium orchid producer in Mexico. In the following 19 years, Gina expanded into plant rentals and events, and opened a retail location in Tampico, Mexico. In 2010 Gina returned to Dallas and founded a new company, Tropical Essence LLC, which specializes in exotic tropical plants. In 2013 she co-founded Yardspell LLC, which specializes in water-wise landscaping and provides personal and commercial gardening services. Gina and her daughter work together as Mother Daughter Earth; they provide environmental education through podcasts, blogs and Instagram. In addition to her love for orchids and other plants, Gina has a passion for education and also enjoys reading, entertaining, and hiking.

Gina speaks on orchids, bromeliads, tillandsias, succulents and cacti, and native and adapted plants.

CERTIFICATIONS:
TEXAS MASTER GARDENER, Dallas County

Native Plant Landscaping and Maintenance (Native Plant Society of Texas)

Home garden is a Certified Wildlife Habitat (National Wildlife Federation)

MEMBER OF AND/OR WORKS WITH THE FOLLOWING HORTICULTURE ORGANIZATIONS

(includes offices held):

Dallas Flower Show Judges Founders Group (former Vice President)

Garden Masters (Founding Member)

Greater DFW Bromeliad Society (former Vice President)

Designers with Flair Study Club (former President)

Designers and Diggers Garden Study Club (former Vice President)

NGC Flower Show Judge

EDUCATION:
Graduate: The Hockaday School, 1979

BBA, University of Texas at Austin, 1982