FAYETTEVILLE — The inspiration to change a city’s landscape can come from the past or the present, but it almost always comes from nature.
Scott Eccleston, landscape architect, realized that when he designed the 120 acres surrounding Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
Eccleston said he was challenged with using native plants to design the trails and gardens on the property.
At A Glance
Criteria Awards
America in Bloom evaluated communities in six categories and presented awards Thursday night:
• Floral Displays: Arroyo Grande, Calif.
• Landscaped Areas: Winter Garden, Fla.
• Heritage Preservation Award: Fayetteville
• Most Creative Idea for Fundraising: Hummelstown, Pa.
• Best Community America in Bloom Website: Coshocton, Ohio
• Environmental Efforts: Holland, Mich.
• Overall Awareness: Racine, Wis.
• Community Involvement: Madisonville, Ky.
• The America in Bloom Spirit Award: American Public Gardens Association
Source: America In Bloom
“I needed inspiration so I took my three boys out there and watched them,” he said. “I saw one catch a turtle, another climb a tree and the other was walking on rocks touching water. I looked around and saw all the colors of fall. It was in that moment that I found peace.”
Eccleston said he immediately knew Crystal Bridges would bring people together through art and nature.
The trails and grounds director was among several speakers featured Friday at the annual America in Bloom Symposium and Awards Program.
America in Bloom is a nonprofit organization that celebrates beautification efforts in communities nationwide.
The symposium was in Fayetteville for the first time. It included a weekend of educational seminars, community tours and award banquets.
Evelyn Alemanni, a judge for America in Bloom, said Fayetteville was chosen as the host city because of its involvement with the program. The city has hosted judges as part of the national competition since 2002 and has won national honors for five years.
“They’ve been in the program longer than anyone else,” Alemanni said. “This is my fourth trip to Fayetteville and it gets better every time. I wanted other towns to see what Fayetteville has done through their green partnerships.”
Marilyn Heifner, director of the city’s Advertising and Promotion Commission, said the symposium was expected to bring in about 130 visitors. The overall economic impact, which includes sales tax from hotels, gasoline and food, amounts to about $32,000 or $249 per person, she said.
“I think Fayetteville has a stellar reputation among this group because we’ve competed for so many years,” Heifner said. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase those things and tell about the things Fayetteville is doing right now, and how we took a good city and made it great through this program.”
P. Allen Smith, a gardening expert, spoke Friday about changing a city’s landscape by starting out small and creating a vision.
“Most of you are here because you’re visionaries,” he said. “Other people are not. That’s why you need to illustrate it for them.”
Smith, an Arkansas native, gained national fame as a TV personality, designer and horticulture expert.
Through his work with schools, civic organizations and businesses, Smith said he acquired the inspiration to design his own garden in the historic district of Little Rock. He restored a vacant home, built in 1905, and created a garden to match the historical landscape of the time.
“The garden was a palette for me to stretch my wings,” Smith said. “I had limited space and time, but I wanted to create a garden that would be beautiful in all seasons. I started out small and created a cottage rose garden because Little Rock was known as the City of Roses in the 1900s.”
Smith went on to apply his personal experience to reshaping the landscape of North Little Rock. He said the city’s mayor wanted to revitalize the historic district, known as Argenta. Again, he started out small, planting tulips along seven blocks.
Three years later, Smith said Argenta has 25,000 tulips along the street and in containers. The city hosts an annual tulip festival and partnered with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to plant pink tulips as part of the Walk for the Cure fundraiser.
“You don’t have to boil the ocean,” Smith said. “You start small and see what kind of response you get.”
Of the 97 towns and six countries she’s visited, Alemanni said Fayetteville is “at the top.”
She said she uses the city as an example to other cities seeking to beautify their landscape.
“This is one of the cleanest cities I’ve visited,” she said. “There’s no graffiti and the streets looks like they’ve just been swept. I’m enthusiastic about Fayetteville. They have a vision for the future.”