Art Meets Nature: Garvan Woodland Gardens Gears up for a Unique Limited Time Installation

Photos courtesy of Garvan Woodland Gardens

 

Any visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs is sure to take visitors’ breath away. As the official horticultural gardens of the University of Arkansas, the grounds are a showpiece of color and texture, boasting manicured lawns and seemingly endless plots of flowers nodding in the breeze.

 

Now officials at the popular attraction are upping the visual ante with Where the Wind Lives, a one-of-a-kind art installation that opened with a VIP sneak peek on April 23 and opened to the public April 24, running through the end of October.

 

Kristin Mangham, marketing, membership and public relations director, said the idea for the exhibit came when leadership were trying to come up with something to fill in a slower period of the year as far as number of visitors. Seeing similar installations in other gardens around the country, leadership was convinced the concept would work well in Hot Springs.

 

 

“We knew that we wanted to start bringing yearly art installations to the garden, especially in the time between our big spring bloom and holiday lights. Those are our two largest seasons of the year,” Mangham said. “We wanted to offer something else to the state, to our city, to our visitors to see in the summertime, and we felt an installation was the best way to do that.

 

“Our state is really great at connecting with cultural aspects of things, and so is our city, so we felt like Garvan fits into combining art and nature. This will be our first large art installation, and our goal is to have an art installation like this every summer.”

 

The artist behind the display is Patrick Shearn, creative director at Poetic Kinetics in Colorado. The work is a breathtaking large-scale installation suspended above the gardens’ natural landscape that transforms wind into movement, light and color, creating a living, ever-changing experience for every guest.

 

The lightweight material is not stretched over or constricted by a frame or structure but is allowed to move with the breeze, creating an immersive display that ripples, dances and shimmers across the sky, accentuating the natural beauty of the surrounding forest. The exhibit is installed in multiple locations throughout the grounds, inviting visitors to look up and experience nature in a whole new way.

 

“There are three installation locations in the garden,” Mangham said. “We will have one over the Great Lawn, which is a giant peacock feather called ‘Avian Rainbow.’ We have one in the Children’s Garden, which is actually three installations in one. Lots of bright colors there. It’s called ‘Color Cascade,’ and then the one over the Millsap Canopy Bridge is called ‘Flight Paths.’ It mimics the flight paths of birds native to Arkansas, and it’s all different colors, as well. We’re really excited for all of them.”

 

 

Mangham said the initial interaction with Shearn included the artist visiting Hot Springs to get a view of the spaces and envision what the installation would look like. She said the visit quickly turned into a study in mutual admiration.

 

“All of the art pieces that are in our garden for Where the Wind Lives are custom to us. They haven’t been anywhere else. They are made specifically for our spaces for our guests and for our garden,” she said. “When Patrick came and visited the garden last spring, he researched a few different sites on the grounds. He looked at where our trees are located. He did a lot of measuring.

 

“That initial visit to the garden was to see if it was even feasible for us and if he felt connected to the space. He fell in love with the garden as much as we fell in love with him, and it’s really been an amazing collaboration and project for us to work on together.”

 

Even though the installations are very large, Shearn was stealthy about where he placed them, one being readily visible and the other two taking some hunting.

 

“The three locations that were picked, the one that is on the Great Lawn, you’re going to be able to see from the welcome center,” Mangham said. “The other two, though, we make you look for them. Our garden is huge. We have 210 acres, and so you really have to explore the garden to be able to find them. I think that that’s going to make the experience really special.”

 

Mangham said the garden staff is planning to make very good use of the installations while they are there, using them as a backdrop for a number of special events and programs. She said she sees the exhibits as the start of a new tradition for families, as well as a draw for first-timers from across the state and beyond.

 

“We have already committed to doing art at least for the next three years,” she said. “We’ve already looked at the artists that we’d like to bring in for the next couple of years. We think that it’s going to be really successful, and we think that people are going to love it and travel from all over to see it.

 

“We want to change it up to where it won’t always be Patrick and it won’t always be a kinetic installation, but an installation of some kind held in the summer. This is something that we really and truly want to have forever. Our holiday lights have become a tradition, and our tulip extravaganza is a tradition. People look for those every year. We want our summer art installation to be something that people look for every year too.”

 

Where the Wind Lives is included with general admission, which is $22 for adults, $10 for youth 4 to 12 and $5 for dogs on a short leash. Children 3 and younger get in free. For tickets, visit garvangardens.org.

 

SEE THIS ARTICLE BELOW AND IN OUR MAY 2026 ISSUE OF AY MAGAZINE.