Mary Ann Baxter
I also wouldn’t enjoy all those wonderful twisted trees, the pretty flowers, the pavillion and those huge lawns on a regular basis if it were not for Mary and her family creating Baxter Park in Dundee. The family wanted to try and make the lives of their mill workers better and in doing so created a park for them and their families to enjoy when they were not at work. Such a grand thing to do at the time (and even now for that matter!).
Here is a little more about Mary:
The obvious elements for me were to include the story of Dundee University and how Baxter affected education forever more. The silhouetted figures represent Baxter and those first students and lecturers at Dundee University, both men and women, studying side by side. The scroll represents learning and achievement and the feather creation and communication.
I couldn’t quite decide which feather I liked best so I asked for the help of my followers on social media. They chose the one on the left, which now appears on Baxter’s plaque. It was lovely having everyone join me on the Discovery Walk journey, especially if the process was being difficult. Their support really gave me a boost and positive words inspired me to keep on trying that bit harder to solve the inky puzzles that were emerging on my drawing board.
At one point the design also included a different scroll, an old ornate inkpot, wheat sheafs and stars (representing the Baxter family crest) and an open book (for Dundee University) but it was decided that less was more in this case and I concentrated on bring in lots of small detail across the top of the design to tie it all together and bring in the story of the park.
Thank you Mary, for those gifts that you left for us in Dundee and the rest of the world too…
For more about Discovery Walk Dundee please pop over to the main page here: Discovery Walk
Read my previous post about designing the walk’s title plaque here: Discovery Walk: The Story of the Title Plaque
Thanks for reading x
