White Rock Lake: An Inspiring Work of Art - Dallas

Photographs by J R Compton, Brian Hiltz, and Todd Landry.

"Beautiful," "enchanting," "mesmerizing," "a jewel in the heart of the city," "the people's playground." These are some of the superlatives and nicknames given to White Rock Lake throughout the years by the large number of people who have visited this magnificently scenic destination in Dallas. All of those people have been spellbound by the lake's beauty and grace and visual artists are no exception.

Painters spend afternoons at the lake painting a landscape, sculptors have found objects from nature for their sculptures at the lake, and young art students have gathered at the park to sketch and draw the natural surroundings.

Photographing the lake has brought joy to many artists, too, including the three photographers featured in this exhibition, J R Compton, Todd Landry, and Brian Hiltz. The three photographers have come to recognize White Rock Lake as a true ecological, recreational, and cultural treasure that possesses an exquisite and elegant presence that is worth capturing on film and digital photographic media.

The sources of inspiration for the three artists are diverse, but their affinity for capturing images of nature brings them together in this project organized by the White Rock Lake Museum in celebration of the Centennial of the lake. The photographers evoke a deep sense of serenity and introspection with their images. They also reveal things and moments that are often overlooked in our daily life. The photographers focus on what is frequently imperceptible or disregarded in nature and bring it forward with great skill and a reverential artistic eye, allowing the viewer to perceive the astounding splendor of our oasis in the middle of the city.