hanna springs sculpture garden
TRANSCRIPT
In the Campbell Park, Lampasas, TX
Hanna Springs Sculpture Garden
In 2005 Nancy Gray envisioned a public arts program for the city of Lampasas. For the purpose of creating a destination to help bring tourism dollars to Lampasas. The Hanna Springs Sculpture Garden is part of that vision.
After presenting the project and receiving approval from the city council, Ms. Gray recruited a small band of volunteers and brought in three nationally known sculptors, Carolann Haggard, David Hickman and T.J. Mabrey to carve on-site in the recently dedicated Campbell Park, located in the historic district of downtown Lampasas.
Overview
The huge blocks of limestone were donated by local quarry, Mezger Enterprises, Inc. and placed in the garden. Then the carving commenced.
Area school districts brought out students on field trips to view the sculptures as they progressed and in some cases, helped out under the direction of the artists.During the two weeks of intense carving, there were over 2,000 visitors to the garden.
These three sculptures formed the foundation for the Hanna Springs Sculpture Garden.
During the year LAFTA offers a number of programs, free of charge, that are designed to enhance the quality of life of the central Texas region.
In 2007 Ms. Gray founded Lampasas Association for the Arts (LAFTA) with the core volunteers that helped in the first year.
With LAFTA in place, the sculpture garden continued to thrive. Every year five new sculptures were judged and chosen from a field of sculptors, nationwide.
Although a majority of the funding is through private donation, the last three years LAFTA has been awarded small grants from the Texas Commission for the Arts.
Every year LAFTA has been able to purchase a sculpture to add to it’s collection. As of 2015, LAFTA’s permanent collection for the sculpture garden has grown to 15 sculptures.
2015 marks the 10th anniversary for Hanna Springs Sculpture Garden.