Dallas Arboretum: My First Home school Field Trip
Ever been to the Dallas Arboretum? They added some cool new statues you have got to see.
The artist, Gary Lee Price, has sculpted some of the greatest people in history. Unfortunately, all of them are guys. :(
Get a map. You’ll need it.
The Lightning Guy
First we had lunch with Benjamin Franklin.
Price sculpted him sitting on a bench holding a key. The key symbolizes Ben’s greatest experiment involving a kite and a thunderstorm.
It also symbolizes “opening the doors to America’s independence.”
Honest Abe
Next we saw Abraham Lincoln.
Our sixteenth president, also sitting on a park bench, was designed to look as he would before giving the Gettysburg Address, which he is holding in his hand.
Father of Our Country
Then we wandered around and spotted George Washington.
Price says: “How do you sculpt the ‘Father of Our Country’: peace loving farmer or in uniform, riding to his countrymen’s need?”
Well, he was able to do both.
Painter
Later we saw Claude Monet, a French painter, and I know what you’re thinking. No, he did not have a stripped shirt and a piece of bread. He looked like this:
Monet is responsible for creating impressionism. A style of art that’s not exactly like the real thing, but is close enough. Does this painting look familiar?
His love for nature makes his statue at the Arboretum essential.
Up, Up, and Away!
Next we found not one, but two people.
The Wright Brothers, makers of the first plane.
Owning a bicycle shop really helped them achieve their goal.
You’ll find them looking up and into the future of their creation.
Imagine
A few minutes later we discovered the crazy haired Albert Einstein sitting on a park bench staring into the wide open sky.
He’s the only sculpture not holding anything, symbolizing that nothing can hold down your imagination.
Author
Samual Langhorne, or as he’s more commonly known as Mark Twain, author of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and many others, is sitting in the shade near a fountain. Be very quiet. The expression on his face lets you know that he’s thinking, possibly about a new book.
Play Write
William Shakespeare. The hardest sculpture to find. Why? Because every other sculpture sits on a park bench and is out in the open. His bench is hidden behind a wall of trees and is very decorative. It includes the Comedy and Tragedy Masks, a quill and some parchment, a crown and skull from plays he had written, and that’s just the front! Walk to the back of the bench and you’ll see people from plays,
like Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, or fairies from A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Shakespeare himself is dressed in knee-length shorts and tights, and is holding a scroll, possibly a new play. This was definitely my favorite sculpture.
More! :)
Know the best part about these sculptures? There are no signs or ropes to hold you back from sitting down and taking a picture!
Not enough? As your walking, take pictures of the sweet-smelling flowers and beautiful trees. Imagine how many people work hard to keep it all this way!
Dallas Arboretum’ s website :)
