Meadowbrook Sculpture Garden Board
Located just one mile east of downtown Arlington, The Meadowbrook Sculpture Garden is the artistic focal point of historic Meadowbrook Park, Arlington’s first city park and its first municipal golf course, both of which opened in 1924.
In 2006, an Arlington Rotary Club thought it would be a cultural adventure and challenge to establish a privately-funded sculpture garden in Meadowbrook. That first sculpture, a classic bronze titled “Blue Sky Dream” by acclaimed sculptor Seth Vandable, was followed by more sculptures via an eclectic selection of Texas artists, all located beneath a spreading canopy of shading oak trees near the park entrance off Abram Street (east of Collins two blocks to Dugan Street). The Arlington Sculpture Garden Foundation and the Arlington Parks and Recreation Department maintain the garden.
The free and accessible Sculpture Garden offers a walking path, comfortable seating, a gurgling adjoining creek and a nifty, comfortable view of the nearby massive sports facilities – AT&T Stadium (Dallas Cowboys) and Globe Life Field (Texas Rangers).
Contributions to the Sculpture Garden or underwriting of new projects — which can include dedications — are happily accepted. For more information about this opportunity, please communicate with the “Contact” button at the top of this page.
"The Sea" by Otello Guarducci
Sculptor Otello Guarducci, an Italian-born artist who lived his adult life in the U.S. (now deceased). He spent a prodigiously productive life with many sculptures displayed in public buildings and private collections around the world, including the highly-regarded Rockefeller Collection. Never limiting himself, Guarducci’s works range from stone and bronze to steel – the latter the stuff of which “The Sea” is made, this particular work reflective of oceanic waves sufficient to make any surfer happy.
“Leave Your Mark” by Janna Tidwell
Janna Tidwell holds degrees in both landscape architecture and horticulture, which makes her – of course – a sculptor. As a child she thought her father was punishing her by insisting she learn his welding and metal working trade, but she quickly developed a unique knack for working with steel, blending bold patterns (making small things like finger print patterns large) and geometry, all with a distinctive New Mexico heritage look – though she lives and works in North Texas. “Leave Your Mark” is an eight-foot white rose sculpture that incorporates what looks to be a human “mark,” fingerprint patterns. Though it appears delicate, the sculpture weighs in at a hefty 1,400 pounds.
“TexScape” by Rock Romano
More than 25 “Stars of Texas” are part of an on-going public art program by the Arlington Museum of Art. They are, in fact, paintings on a Texas Lone Star designed to stay outdoors. The Meadowbrook star is “TexScape” by Houston artist Rock “Dr. Rockit” Romano. If one tended to be jealous of those with expansive artistic talents, they’d likely cite Romano first. Not only is he a gifted painter, he’s also an upper echelon guitarist, a sound engineer and a record producer. His painting exhibitions – modernistic and color-filled — consistently sell out. His Red Shack Recording Studio has been a key fixture in the Houston music scene for three decades. “TexScape” is reflective of his perspectives on state culture in a Mondrianish-way.
Unique giant kaleidoscope hanging out at Meadowbrook Park Sculpture Garden...
What well may be the state’s largest (and certainly most unusual) kaleidoscope resides in the Meadowbrook Park Sculpture Garden.
Dubbed “Brighten My Day,” the device is the creation of kaleidoscope gurus/muralists/tattoo wizards/glass blower aficionados Mary and Eddie Phillips, both Tarrant County artists.
The artists say a kaleidoscope this size requires unique engineering. The vision tube, for example, cannot move, so the objects providing the color vistas must move instead, in this instance giant hand-made blown glass wheels. The wheels themselves are turned at eye-piece level by the viewer. The artists say “Brighten My Day” is essentially weather-proof, though it will acquire a darker patina as it ages.
Meadowbrook Park is located on East Abram four blocks east from Collins Street.
Eddie and Mary Phillips
“Blue Sky Dream” by Seth Vandable
The Meadowbrook Sculpture Garden began in 2006 when a local Rotary Club decided some impressive art in the classic genre would be just the thing. They searched for a sculptor and eventually selected Seth Vandable, a highly regarded North Texas sculptor who specializes in human form bronzes. “Blue Sky Dream” features a man and woman of classic anatomical makeup holding their newly born child skyward. Vandable began his career as a commercial artist and painter, albeit one with a consuming interest in human anatomy. His work is found in private and public collections worldwide, so much so that the artist has been inducted into the National Sculpture Society.
“Fern Fronds” by Pascale Pryor
Sculptor Pascale Pryor blends a plethora of talents – art welding, ceramics, stained glass and painting. The North Texas artist says she had a “lousy” sales job in 2007 and decided she’d rather be a bad artist than a successful sales person, though it turned out that she is a most-excellent artist with an abundance of commissions, particularly of the public art genre. Her metallic work “Fern Fronds” takes its inspiration from both nature and musical notes, reflective of her continuing attraction to organic shapes and the possibilities of turning dreams – or day dreams – into real touchable, durable art.
“Dragonflies” by David Hickman
“Kinetic” sculptor David Hickman is famed for creations that interact with the environment, reacting to wind or sun. This whimsical whirligig sculpture at Meadowbrook (the multi-piece metallic structure turns in the wind like a weather vane and then quivers like its namesake) is titled “Dragonflies. The pieces are particularly fun to watch on a windy, direction-shifting day. Like weather vanes, the Dragonflies will point to the direction from which the newest storm is approaching. If they also quiver like their namesakes, it also indicates the wind velocity has surpassed 20 m.p.h.
Hickman, a Texas native, hails from Gainesville but is most identified with Dallas in the early parts of his career and New Mexico today. Hickman works in all metals, carved stone, slumped glass, and glass mosaic, but in recent years has focused more on wind-activated, kinetic elements to create signature site-specific works. He was selected by the Texas Commission on the Arts as the Texas State Artist Three-Dimensional category for the year 2004. He was also selected by the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects as Artist of the Year 2005.
Current Board Members:
Val Gibson
Joe Bruner
Sue Phillips
Lana Wolff
O.K. Carter
Pete Jamieson
Glenn Troutman
Victoria Farrar-Myers
Randy Hendricks
Dara Wandel
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