Totally Texas -- Seize the weekend at Cottonwood Park

Richardson’s Cottonwood Art Festival

Cottonwood Park

1321 W. Belt Line Rd. (between Coit & Waterview)

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The Weather Channel’s predicting sunny skies, gentle winds, temperatures in the 80’s and low 90’s: a perfect weekend to spend outdoors. Like at Richardson’s Cottonwood Art Festival this Saturday and Sunday.

Twice a year (repeating the first weekend in October), shady Cottonwood Park is transformed into a colorful tent city as more than 240 juried artists display their work in a variety of media. This year’s featured artist is Minnesotan Carl Zachmann, whose kinetic sculptures explore the designs and textures of America’s industrial past.

My family regularly strolls through the booths, samples the food booths, sways to festival-long music from local entertainers, and maybe, just maybe, finds time to feed the ducks at Cottonwood Park’s lake.

Most of the professional artists pitch their tents on the lakes’ east side. At ArtStop on the west shore, kids can work in plaster, collages, and clay sculpting on a potter’s wheel.

Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission and parking are free. This year the festival has expanded parking to the Richardson High School’s football stadium parking lot. A free shuttle runs both days, 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

The artists’ works are available for purchase, as are food and beverages, and some children’s events require a fee. Festival merchandise vendors and most artists accept major credit cards. ATMs are located outside the permanent pool house by the concession area on festival’s main street.

See www.cottonwoodartfestival.com for more information--and to download the festival’s free app.

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Need more outside time? Celebrate Native Plants and Prairies Day Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., at the Bath House Cultural Center on the shores of White Rock Lake, 521 E. Lawther Drive in Dallas.  Free.  See
www.ntmn.org/ for additional event information.

　

And visit ten backyard urban coops at the annual Peep at the Coops tour Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., in East Dallas features ten backyard urban coops. Besides chickens, this year’s tour includes duck and bunny coops. Maps are $10 (only one needed per group), available at tour headquarters, Stonewall Gardens, Stonewall Jackson Elementary School, 5828 E. Mockingbird, Dallas. Drive or join the bike tour of the nearest coops, leaving the gardens at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. See www.apeepatthecoops.org/.

(Next Friday: Promise mom a rose garden--and more--for her special day.)

Totally Texas -- A century old and still beautiful

White Rock Lake, Dallas

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When I moved to Dallas, knowing little about the city, I only looked for a central location for work, a decent school, a church, and a few amenities.  I didn’t realize I’d also found a home within walking distance of one of Dallas’s greatest treasures, White Rock Lake.  The artificial lake, which opened in 1911 and became a city park in 1929, is celebrating its centennial this year with one hundred days of special events.

This coming weekend, May 7, the Dallas Running Club hosts a centennial half marathon from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. starting at Winfrey Point, 952 Winfrey Point Drive (with access from Garland Road).  Additional free events in May include a free family weekend of water sports presented by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department May 14, a Little League Baseball tournament May 14-15, a three-race centennial regatta May 21, the White Rock sprint championships rowing event May 22.  The regatta and sprint championships are free to watch but require fees for participation.  For additional information and participant registration, see http://www.whiterockboatclub.com/ for the regatta and http://www.whiterockboathouse.com/ for the rowing event.

Additional events continue into June, to mark the date in 1911 when the dam across White Rock Creek that created the lake was completed.  The festivities culminate in what the For the Love of the Lake organization calls the beach party of the century on June 25-26.  It expects to host more than five thousand people at the Bath House Cultural Center at 521 E. Lawther Drive from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 25 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 26.  The Dallas Arboretum, which overlooks the lake, will cap June 26’s festivities with a 7 p.m. concert.  Please see www.whiterockdallas.org for admission fees and additional information closer to the date.