The Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum revealed the Honorary Chair and the distinguished authors for the 12th Annual “A Writer’s Garden” Literary Symposium and Luncheon A Passion for Gardens at a reception on June 18 in the beautiful Highland Park home of Barbara Hunt Crow. Nearly one hundred guests were in attendance to hear the announcements for the event which is scheduled on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 from 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM in Rosine Hall at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.
Linda Spina, Women’s Council president, welcomed guests and Event Chairman Michelle Mew announced that longtime supporter of the Dallas Arboretum and the Dallas community, Barbara Hunt Crow, will be the Honorary Chairman.
“A Writer’s Garden” Literary Symposium is an annual Fall Fundraiser which has presented outstanding authors and speakers with extensive knowledge in the histories of garden design, architecture and art, and stories of extraordinary individuals and events. The 2018 program will feature Carolyne Roehm, internationally recognized style icon and gardener extraordinaire, and Colta Ives, renowned art historian and landscape designer.
Style icon and lifestyle maven Carolyne Roehm has been part of American design culture for over four decades with a career spanning the fashion, gardening, decorative arts, entertaining and publishing worlds. Finding a mentor in Oscar de la Renta, Carolyne worked alongside the couture great for 10 years before launching her own fashion house in 1985. A discerning eye and a passion for beauty lead her into the world of flowers and gardening, where her books are often referred to as the best in their field. Subsequent entertaining and interiors titles cemented her position as one of America’s premier lifestyle experts.
A former president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, with appearances in both the Who’s Who of Women in America and the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame, she was honored by Manolo Blahnik with a shoe in her name and, in a fitting tribute, design legend Bill Blass labeled Carolyne, “The Ultimate Tastemaker.”
Regardless of the medium, Carolyne’s unerring eye and innate sense of style have turned out timeless products including clothing, fashion accessories, jewelry, and fragrance.
The author of twelve books including At Home in the Garden, A Passion for Flowers, At Home with Carolyne Roehm, and the Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring Notebook Series, Carolyne’s mission is to teach others how to capture and create beauty in their lives, in both the everyday and the out of the ordinary.
Her new book, Carolyne Roehm Style & Design: A Constant Thread, will be released October 9, 2018.
During her long career at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Colta Ives has organized over 20 exhibitions and authored nearly as many scholarly books on artists and art, mainly of the nineteenth century, among which are the titles: Daumier Drawings, The Private Collection of Edgar Degas, The Lure the Exotic: Gauguin in New York Collections, The Graphic Art of Pierre Bonnard, and Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings. Colta has lectured on these topics and others at the invitation of museums across America and also in France and Australia. She has conducted seminars at New York University and at Columbia University, her alma mater, from which she holds graduate degrees in both Art History and Landscape Design.
Following her retirement from the Metropolitan Museum with the title Curator Emerita, Colta was invited to return to the Museum as a guest curator to mount an exhibition she conceived on the historic botanical boom of the nineteenth century and its effect on French art, culture, and gardening practices. That exhibition, shown at the Museum in New York from March through July 2018, was the realization of her book published earlier this year, Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence.
Colta is a life-long amateur botanist and experimental gardener at her woodland retreat in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.
Since 1986, the major goal of the Women’s Council has been the development and maintenance of "A Woman's Garden," the only public garden in the nation conceived by women, funded by the efforts of women, and dedicated to the spirit of women. “A Woman's Garden” celebrates the strength, ingenuity, creativity and determination of all women. It is a centerpiece garden of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.
An exclusive “Meet the Authors” Reception for Sponsors and Patrons is planned for Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - 6 PM to 8 PM in a private residence.
Sponsor Underwriting Levels for “A Writer’s Garden” Literary Symposium and Luncheon are $25,000, $15,000, $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500. Individual Patron tickets are $1,500, $1,000, $500, and $250. Individual tickets are $150 per person for Symposium and Luncheon and $125 per person for Symposium Only.
Information is available at www.womenscouncildallasarboretum.org.
For further information:
Michelle Mew, Event Chair, 214-236-2564 or mmew1111@aol.com,
Mary Ellen Winborn, Reservations Chair, 214-369-2246 or mewinborn@sbcglobal.net.
The Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Photos by Chuck Clark