Garvan Woodland Gardens has experienced much growth since the public first visited over 30 years ago, and that growth and change continues under Interim Executive Director Becca Ohman, who earlier this week outlined new partnerships and features.
Ohman recounted some of the history of the gardens during Wednesday's Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hot Springs before discussing some of the new programs and architectural elements that are on the way.
Verna Cook Garvan "knew the 210 acres set within the Ouachita Mountain forest and surrounded by four and a half miles of shoreline were something really special," Ohman said.
"She loved it and wanted others to experience the beauty of the place, and more than that, I believe she wanted others to love the gardens and to care for them long into the future. Mrs. Garvan held the land sacred. She cherished the sense of place. She knew what it was and had a vision for what it could be," she said.
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"Through the artful hand of designers, gardeners, architects, arborists and others, we have seen naturally sacred spaces celebrated and the purposeful creation of built sacred spaces enhance Mrs. Garvan's gift."
The botanical garden is currently piloting a program with All Children's Academy called Forest Fridays.
"Forest Fridays are using a new outdoor learning environment that's right next to the amphitheater at the garden," she said, noting the plan is to expand it to other Garland County schools in the future. "To you and to me, this looks like the woods. It looks like the things that we all grew up with in our childhood. Today, for our children, it's a blank slate."
Garland County Library will also be partnering with the garden for its Literacy Trail for two weeks in May and the entire month of September.
"It was located along the Greenway this fall," Ohman said. "We are going to be bringing the Literacy Trail to Garvan and encouraging children and their parents to engage with the natural world and also improve their literacy skills.
"If you are a Garland County Library holder -- and especially if you are a child with a library card -- you can come to the garden at a much, much lower rate than is typical. Children, in fact, will be free, and adults will only be $10," she said.
"And the goal of this is to introduce the garden and to offer the garden to people who typically wouldn't have the abilities to enjoy those spaces."
The garden is also in the process of building the new Whipple Family Forest Education Center, Ohman said. The first portion of the project, a 42-foot tower called "Sensing the Forest," was dedicated last week.
"This is going to be a brand-new building at the garden -- 5,000 square feet for educational purposes focused on timber and timber industry as well as the health and sustainability of our forests," she said. "(We're) very excited about the structure again. We just dedicated the tower, and you can barely see it, and that's the point. It's clad in stainless steel."
Another structure, the Sharon Griffith Turrentine Falling Leaves Pavilion, is expected to be completed later this month, Ohman said.
"Then we'll move into dedication and being able to enjoy this open-air structure out at the western end," she said. "This is a third generation of the E. Fay Jones architectural firm. Maurice Jennings, who was the architect of the chapel, it's his son, Walter Jennings, and his business partner, Lori Santa-Rita, who have done this design, open-air pavilion, another beautiful place of rest and respite as well as for daily rentals."
The gardens have also brought back the free workshops.
"COVID took away our workshops for a little while, and we're thrilled to be bringing them back," she said. "A lot of the ones that are coming to the forefront are with the University of Arkansas-Monticello's forestry program. We're focusing on forest health, native plants. These again are free so you can come to these for free and learn, take it home, apply it to your home landscapes. We're thrilled about offering these."