NASHER SCULPTURE CENTER BEGINS TREE PLANTING
3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Dallas, TX, March 2002 - The Nasher Sculpture Center announced today that 40 trees, including live oaks and cedar elms, will be planted in its sculpture garden during March 2002. The initial phase of tree planting will begin when five live oaks, each weighing approximately 70,000 to 80,000 pounds, arrive from Tomball, just outside of Houston and are lifted by crane into the garden. The next phase of tree planting will take place in Fall 2002. By the time the Sculpture Center opens in October 2003, more than 70 trees will be planted in the garden.
Each live oak, approximately 25 feet tall and with a root ball nearly 15 feet in diameter, was carefully chosen for its size and shape to match landscape architect Peter Walker's vision for the garden. Because of their large size, each tree will require its own truck to carry it along a carefully planned route from Tomball to downtown Dallas. The cedar elms range in size from 25 to 30 feet high. They were grown in Breckinridge, Texas, but were moved several months ago to a staging area in Frisco to await transfer to the Sculpture Center.
The Nasher Sculpture Center insisted that the initial plantings be fully mature trees so that the garden will be a welcoming environment for visitors from opening day onward. Raymond D. Nasher, Founding Chairman of the Nasher Sculpture Center, said, "We selected mature trees so that we will have an instant forest. We want to create from the outset an urban oasis within downtown Dallas. We'll transform a parking lot into a place for quiet reflection and contemplation of the art in the Nasher Collection."
Preparations to move the trees began more than nine months ago with a process called root pruning. The root system of each tree was trimmed down to a size small enough so that the tree could be moved, but large enough so that the tree can sustain itself while awaiting re-planting. For the last six months, the roots have been healing, and can now be safely transplanted.
A special drainage system for the garden is already in place, and once the trees have been planted, a specially designed soil mix will fill in around them. Tom Cox, owner of tree brokerage firm Environmental Design, calls this garden "as perfect a growing medium as possible." Every element, from drainage, to soil mix, to transplanting process, has been carefully planned to ensure that the trees will thrive in their new environment.
The Nasher Sculpture Center, under construction in downtown Dallas, will open to the public in October 2003. The Center is a new cultural institution dedicated to the display and study of modern sculpture. Its Director is Dr. Steven A. Nash, who has served as Associate Director and Chief Curator at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Prior to that, from 1980 to 1988, he served in the roles of Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Dallas Museum of Art. The $70 million Center will occupy a 2.4-acre site adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art in the heart of the Dallas Arts District. Renzo Piano is the architect of the Center's 55,000 square foot, two-story building. Piano is working in collaboration with landscape architect Peter Walker on the design of the sculpture garden.
This project is a longtime dream of Raymond Nasher and his late wife Patsy, who together formed one of the finest collections of modern sculpture in the world. The Nasher Sculpture Center will present rotating exhibitions of works from Nasher's holdings as well as special exhibitions of modern sculpture. In addition to the garden and approximately 10,000 square feet of indoor gallery space, the Center will contain an auditorium, education and research facilities, a café, and book store.
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For more information, please contact:
Kristen Gibbins
Nasher Sculpture Center
214.242.5150
kgibbins@nashersculpturecenter.org
www.NasherSculptureCenter.org