Garvan Woodland Gardens Packs June Schedule with Exhibits, Workshops

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The blooms and activities keep evolving as summer approaches at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Summer officially begins next month, and Garvan Woodland Gardens is preparing plenty of art exhibits and workshops to accompany its seasonal foliage in full bloom.

The garden’s design and fabrication teams and landscape architecture students in the Fay Jones School of Architecture have challenged the traditional art of topiary in a new exhibit called “Mystic Creatures.” From June 1 through Aug. 31, the garden will feature four main pieces, each of which was first crafted from light metal, then filled with soil and planted with colorful foliage and flowers.

In celebration of the Mystic Creatures exhibit, the garden will host a “Mystic Magic Night” Gala from 6-9 p.m. June 3 in the Garvan Pavilion. An elegant dinner complete with appetizers, dessert, cocktails and wine will be served. Magician Maxwell Blade and Dean Agus and the Legacy Band will perform.

Also celebrating the premiere of Mystic Creatures, the garden will present a “Fairy Tale Extravaganza” – a performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by the Hot Springs Children’s Dance Theatre Co. – at 3 p.m. June 8 at the Klipsch Amphitheater.

Megan Bradshaw, former park interpreter and garden education director, will lead children on a hunt for Sasquatch throughout the Mystic Creatures exhibit from 8-9:30 p.m. June 7. While adventuring through the topiary exhibit, Bradshaw will teach children about night creatures such as raccoons, owls and foxes, and discuss how they see at night, as well as other facts about the forest at night.

Two summer classes for children ages 5-12 also will be held at the garden in June. In a June 4 class, “Rub a-dub-Rub: The Art of Plants,” children can learn some of the fascinating details about plants, then create a piece of garden art using rubbings of leaves, stems and flowers. In a June 18 class, “A Flower and a Butterfly: Basics of Pollination,” children can learn about the relationship between flowers and pollinators, then plant their own pollinating plants to start a personal butterfly garden. Both classes begin at 10 a.m. and meet in the Magnolia Room inside the Welcome Center.

Millie Steveken, Cynthia Schanink and Pat Langewis – all award-winning artists from Hot Springs – will display their artwork from June 1-30 in the Magnolia Room in an exhibit called “Brushstrokes.” Their pieces vary in subject and in medium, though all of them reflect the beauty the artists found in nature at Garvan Woodland Gardens.

Sammie Crawford, also known as “the Fairy Gourdmother,” will demonstrate her knack for creating whimsical gourd art at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. June 8 in the Magnolia Room. Crawford, an artist and author, will teach the significance of gourds across cultures, and her work will be on display and for sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Arkansas gardeners aiming to spruce up their summer gardens will want to attend a Gardening 101 workshop, “Tropical Twist, Great Plants for a Fabulous Summer Garden,” with author and gardening lecturer Chappy Harper from noon to 1:30 p.m. June 10 in the Magnolia Room. Harper, a member of the International Palm Society, will discuss the tropical varieties that grow best in this area and how to plant them.

Carol Scholp, a gourmet cook and herb expert, will help attendees of the Gardening 101 workshop “The Fragrant Garden” learn which flowers and herbs have the strongest aromas. Whether one prefers gardenias or lilacs, Scholp will help attendees determine which will flourish best in Arkansas – both indoors and out. Scholp will lead a tour through the garden from 1:30-3 p.m. June 10, with the group meeting first in the Magnolia Room.

Garden bonsai artists will teach the basics of this ancient, Japanese art form in an hour-long class, “Bonsai Basics,” starting at 9:30 a.m. June 17. Immediately after that class, Bob Byers, landscape architect and associate executive director of the garden, will teach the principles of wabi sabi, a Japanese concept that emphasizes simplicity, and share how those ideals can be translated to the landscape of a garden.

The Fay Jones School of Architecture will hold its summer Design Camp from June 23-26 at the garden. High school students entering grades 9-12 who enjoy designing, drawing and building are encouraged to attend. Faculty instructors from the Fay Jones School will spend four days with the students, giving them hands-on experience in working on a project for a real site. The deadline for registration is June 2, and the program costs $300. For more information and registration, contact Shawna Barnes at slbarnes@uark.edu or (479) 575-4907.

Local fitness aficionado and entertainer Sharon Turrentine will lead an intermediate-level, three-mile hike every Monday in June. Horticulture supervisor and dedicated hiker Paula Wallace will take walkers on a more relaxed one-mile hike every Tuesday in June. Both programs begin at 9 a.m.

In a weekly “Self-Management of Diabetes” class, instructor Kathy Packard will provide tips and information for monitoring personal health and address all aspects of living a happy, healthful life with diabetes. Her class will meet from 1-3:30 p.m. every Wednesday from June 11 through July 16 in the Millsap Bride’s Hall.

Garvan Woodland Gardens is the botanical garden of the University of Arkansas.

The garden is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12, free for children ages 5 and younger, and $5 for dogs. Some events and activities are free, while some require a fee, advanced registration or prepayment.

For more information about these events or to check on upcoming events, call (501) 262-9300 or (800) 366-4664.