Preparation is key!

My parents used to have a huge gathering for Independence Day every year. Immediate and extended family, plus close friends would come over for food, volleyball (water guns, slip n slide and bike riding for me, my sisters and cousins) and fireworks. Each year my sisters and I would dread the preparation for the cookout (on steroids) that we called Fourth of July.

My dad would cook and we would clean EVERYTHING. We would help our mom with her red, white and blue decorations. We also had the luxury of raking cut grass into huge piles onto a wheel barrow to be taken to the “unkept” section of the yard. (I am from Harvest, AL)

Each year my sisters and I moaned and complained about the tasks that we had to complete and the ridiculous manner my parents behaved, as if we were expecting royalty over for a dinner that would affect the future of the free world. But each year, my aunts and mom’s friends would go gaga over her décor. My dad would bask in the compliments of how tasty the food was and how great the yard looked. And to be honest, it is a lot easier to run from a water gun and ride a bike without a grass pile in your way.

The preparation was worth it. The process was tedious and boy did we sweat, but in the end, the results always came out great.

The preparation for Jean- Louis Forain: La Comédie parisienne is underway and everyone here at the Dixon has been hard at work. The location of Café Forain has been decided and preparation for a tasty menu for all of our visitors is being planned.

The garden staff is transforming and reconfiguring the gardens with new trees and fantastic designs at the entrance booth.

Our front banners have gone up and look great.

The painting in the interior is almost complete, with even our Mallory and Wurtzburger galleries getting a facelift.

By June 26, we will look around and know that the preparation and overtime was worth it. The exhibition will look amazing, but so will the Dixon and all of the promotional materials, gardens and other small details that go along with it.  We look forward to everyone seeing how all of the hard work pays off!

Watch the blog for more on the transformation …..

Chantal Drake, communications associate