Ground Cover September [Fall Edition 2016] | Page 7

NEW BRICK WALKWAY

In 2013, the Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Gardens gathered a group
of volunteer leaders and city staff to develop a long-range strategic plan.
Ideas at these sessions polarized into seven main areas. One addressed
accessibility.
Our vision is to increase accessibility to the DABG regardless of physical
ability. We have made strides with the addition of playground equipment
for those with physical challenges in the Lion’s Club playground area and
three new tour cart purchases. The walkways are another key component
in closing the access gap.
“Many of our visitors are advanced in years and come from area care
facilities. We want to be sure all can come and enjoy everything the
gardens have to offer,” stated Sandi Helgerson, Executive Director.
Until recently, the brick walkway ended at the Herb Garden. With the help
of funding from the Dubuque Regional Hosta Society, the Dubuque Racing
Association and the Wahlert Foundation, the brick walkway extension now
connects to the Hosta Shade Garden and the Formal English Garden.
The walkway was constructed by Sanchez Lawn Care & Landscaping who
did an excellent job. Thanks to Wylie Bledsoe who oversaw the project.

ART WORKSHOPS AT DABG

Mississippi River Art Workshops hosted 2 plein air workshops in June and July, each of which utilized the DABG for a portion
of its instruction. Plein air is the French term for painting outdoors. It dropped out of popularity in the United States with
the introduction of abstract art around 1915, but has been coming back into favor since around 1985. There is now a
rapidly growing movement of plein air activity throughout the country, powering a market for workshops and arts events.
Mississippi River Art Workshops formed in 2014 as an affiliate of the Dubuque County Fine Arts Society, with a mission
to create art workshops and events that take advantage of
Dubuque’s unique and varied landscapes and architecture.
Artists in the 2016 workshops painted Mississippi River scenes
from Eagle Point and Mt. Carmel and along the riverfront, and
Arboretum scenes in the Japanese Garden and throughout the
gardens. The artists, who came from around Iowa, as well as
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois, were awed by our Dubuque
landscapes and the DABG.
As an outgrowth of the workshops, a new group of painters has
formed – Plein Air Painters of Dubuque, or PPod. Seven artists
from the tri-state area attended the first meeting and painted
for a morning in the Japanese Garden.

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