Guest blogger Gail Sachson owns Ask Me About Art offering tours, lectures and program planning. She is Vice-Chair of the Cultural Affairs Commission and a member of the Public Art Committee. Look for her October classes at SMU through CAPE (Continuing & Professional Education), offering a behind-the-scenes look at the Dallas Art world.

Plan to stay in Dallas next Labor Day weekend to picnic at the Dallas Arboretum with the Dallas Wind Symphony and enjoy what will then be the 16th annual “Picnic in the Park.” This past Sunday evening, more than 2,500 enthusiastic concertgoers  covered the lawn at the Camp House with blankets, picnic baskets and collapsible canvas chairs of every color.

Chairs and coolers didn’t  provide the only splashes of color, though. Dallas artist David McCullough, who traditionally seeks out music as his muse, created a signature brightly colored canvas of dancing lines and squirming shapes as the Dallas Wind Symphony played. The upbeat music (“76 Trombones,” “Cotton Eyed Joe”), the lush landscape and an owl displayed on stage from the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center were his inspiration. Children clustered around him as he painted, and concertgoers snapped photos. The HCG Gallery, which represents McCullough, videotaped the process and will have it up on its Web site soon.

Admission, parking, music and the fun of watching an artist paint were all free! Complimentary tickets were required and, be it the cooler, 80 degree weather, the WRR following, the family adventure or the ambiance of the Arboretum, the tickets were snatched up immediately.

And … there was even more. As darkness fell, so did a screen on stage, and families stayed to watch the classic movie E.T.:The Extra Terrestrial presented by the Dallas Film Society. It was a classy, classical evening, and even before E.T. screened, we all felt “3 million light years from home.”