Craig Hall and Hall Financial Group often describe themselves as contrarian - meaning that they make business decisions against the prevailing current. In 1990, when Hall bought land in rural Frisco for a large multi-tenant new office development what looked like a risky move has proven to be visionary. This once quiet community now sets the pace for real estate and new housing development in the state.

When the company started its plans for the new office park, Craig Hall made it clear that art would be an integral part of the development. He envisioned art in building lobbies, throughout the grounds - enlivening the surroundings for both tenants and visitors. His personal collection contains art from around the world, but here he dedicated an area to focus solely on contemporary sculpture by Texas artists. In late 1999 I joined Hall Financial Group on a full-time basis to actualize his vision.

A four acre tract was set aside at the entrance to the new Hall Office Park to be known as the Texas Sculpture Garden. However, as we began to select art, it became clear that some of the sculpture we wanted would need an indoor environment. The TSG now includes 20 works outside in the four acre original tract and 20 works inside the lobby of 6801 Gaylord Parkway.

One question visitors ask is, "How did you select the art?" The answer is that I looked until we found what we were looking for. That always begs the second question - what were we looking for? We wanted the TSG to house works that demonstrated the diversity and excellence of art being made in Texas.

Texas is a large state and there are hundreds of good artists. Hopefully, we will add more art as time goes by, but right now the TSG has 40 works that represent a diversity of materials - metal, stone, wood, concrete, glass; a diversity of tones - serious, humorous, formal, and casual; and a diversity of approaches - abstract, representational, and conceptual. The artists also are a diverse group - varying ages and ethnicities, varying levels of recognition, male and female, and living throughout the state. The connecting thread is that they are all excellent, dedicated, hard-working, professional, living Texas artists.

Planning and actualizing the Texas Sculpture Garden has been a thoughtful, joyful task that took me twenty-five years of experience and two years of work to accomplish. I am indebted to Craig Hall and Hall Financial Group for the opportunity to serve as curator for this exciting project. I am in awe of the Hall's continuing financial investment, not just for the purchase of the sculpture and the development of the TSG itself, but for the development of tour materials, the website, and related projects.

I am indebted to our outstanding artists for their enormous talent, patience, and dedication. And I am indebted to the installation crews who installed tirelessly in unrelenting wind, record-breaking heat, and changing schedules and yet never complained.

In a historical sense, the Texas Sculpture Garden is a one-of-a-kind for Texas. It is the largest private collection of contemporary sculpture by living Texas artists that has been made available to the public at no charge. It will partner with the area museums and the Nasher Sculpture Center. While Dallas and Fort Worth have several museums each, the Texas Sculpture Garden now gives the growing Collin County area its first large visual art venue. It is my hope that visitors will respect and treasure each piece as a legacy for future generations.

Patricia B. Meadows