Plant Identification Hikes and Youth Theater Classes Among August Events at Garvan Gardens

Garvan Woodland Gardens

The Fairy Village is a delightful spot to visit during the summer at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Visitors to Garvan Woodland Gardens in August can look forward to plant identification hikes, more youth theater classes and a new exhibit featuring a trio of artists.

The art exhibit "Mixing It Up" will be on display from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. throughout August in the Magnolia Room. The exhibit will showcase the work of Linda Shearer, Joyce Weaver and Sheliah Halderman. While Shearer and Halderman both focus on nature in their work, Halderman mainly uses pastels, and Shearer uses a variety of rice papers. Halderman's paintings often include landscapes from throughout Arkansas. Weaver's featured work also will include landscapes, as well as some abstract pieces, and she works in watercolor and mixed media.

"Brushwood Dance," an art installation by W. Gary Smith, is on display daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Smith is a nationally known landscape architect and artist who employs a collaborative design process to create site-specific art installations crafted from materials harvested from the site. Made of tree trunks and limbs, the 450-foot-long art installation piece winds along Warren's Woodland Walk, ripples along rock walls, arches over trails and undulates through the bulb meadow to its crescendo at the Three Sisters of Amity Daffodil Hill. The installation will remain on display through spring 2017 and will be incorporated into and highlighted in the garden's seasonal displays such as Holiday Lights and Tulip Extravaganza.

Rush Fentress will lead "Plant ID Hikes," which are for Garvan Gardens members only, from 8-9:30 a.m. every Thursday through mid-November. Participants will meet in the Welcome Center to prepare for the hike, which will wind through the Evans Children's Adventure Garden followed by the Hixson Nature Preserve. Fentress, the garden's director of education, will help participants identify the plants on the trail.

Lanie Carson will teach the "Youth Theater Series" at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Aug. 6 in the Magnolia Room. The 10 a.m. session, "Starstuff Story Time," will be offered to children ages 5-8. The class will read through the story, select a character to play and then act out the story using costumes and props. The 11 a.m. session, "Starstuff Reader's Theater," will be offered to children ages 9-12. The children will read through a chapter or scene from a novel or play, decide which character they want to portray and act out the selection using costumes and props.  

Two "Garvan Rocks!" classes with Sissy Hubbard will be taught from 9-11 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 9 in the Magnolia Room and other areas within the garden. Hubbard will first teach people how to draw on stones. The students will then hide their stones in the garden for others to find.

Garvan Woodland Gardens is the botanical garden of the University of Arkansas and part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

Garvan Gardens is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12 and free for children ages 5 and younger. Some events and activities are free. 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.