Big Bugs Rule at Ohio's Biggest Arboretum
By Damaine Vonada
Posted On: Jun 3, 2024
Bugs are little, right? Not at TheDawesArboretum, a botanical oasis near Newark where ten sculptures of super-sized insects – think 725-pound ants and a 17-foot-long dragonfly – currently inhabit its lush and lovely landscape. With nearly 2,000 acres and more than 15,000 plants, The Dawes is Ohio's largest arboretum.
Praying mantis sculpture
It's also a living museum whose rolling hills, shady glens, and splendid gardens provide a picture-perfect setting for "DavidRogers'BigBugs," a traveling art exhibition that features gargantuan creepy-crawlies and runs through August 25, 2024.
"We like to do seasonal exhibits like "Big Bugs" because they let people experience something new and are a good way to get children engaged with nature," said The Dawes Arboretum's marketing director Mari Ann Moore.
Ladybug sculpture, with Visitor Center behind it
Mari Ann kindly waived my ticket fee and met me at the Visitor Center, where the first "Big Bugs" specimen – a hulking ladybug that looked like something from a sci fi movie – lurked under a nearby shade tree. Two additional staff members, digital marketing specialist Jenna Chirdon and communications specialist Lauren Rose, soon joined us for a golf cart tour of more "Big Bugs."
As we rolled along the numerous trails that traverse the grounds, Mari Ann explained that the imaginative insects are made entirely of cedar, willow, and other natural materials. They're also strategically displayed so that visitors can explore distinctive arboretumfeatures such as Dawes Lake, the Japanese Garden, and the Deep Woods.
Ant sculptures
Our first stop was a "colony" of three enormous ants perched on a hillside with sweeping views. The ants' artful eyes were carved from red cedar, and their legs were so tall that Mari Ann, Jenna, and Lauren could stand beneath them. Then we encountered a lofty Daddy Long Leg stretching over a trail as well as a 1,200-pound Praying Mantis with its spiked forelimbs poised to ambush passing prey.
Daweswood House Museum
Just past the menacing mantis, we caught sight of Daweswood House Museum, an 1860s Italianate farmhouse that the arboretum's founders – Pure Oil Company president Beman Dawes and his wife Bertie – transformed into their personal country retreat.
The couple's main residence was in Columbus, but after they purchased the farmhouse and surrounding farmland in 1917, Beman began collecting and planting trees from around the world. In 1929, Beman and Bertie established The Dawes Foundation to give pleasure to the public; cultivate public knowledge and appreciation of trees; encourage the planting of forest and ornamental trees; and foster horticultural and agricultural research.
Dawes Arboretum historian Leslie Wagner at the front door of Daweswood House Museum
Tours of the house museum begin on the front porch, where staff historian Leslie Wagner was waiting to take me inside and tell me about the Daweses' remarkable legacy and their lifestyle at Daweswood. Born and raised in Marietta, Beman acquired his love for trees while working at the lumber business that his father, General Rufus Dawes, started after the Civil War. "Beman, noted Leslie, "was an oil magnate by profession, but he was a tree-hugger in his downtime."
About 95% of the furnishings that are now in Daweswood belonged to Beman and Bertie and were used there and at other homes they owned. While numerous antiques such an oak chest from the 1600s and personal collections of colored glass and seashells grace the rooms, the house also has numerous family portraits.
One of the largest depicts Charles Dawes, who was not only Beman's brother but also Calvin Coolidge's vice president. In 1925, Charles received the Nobel Peace Prize for the Dawes Plan that restructured Germany's World War I reparation payments.
Daweswood's Rathskeller served as Beman's basem*nt man cave, and it contains a truly unique collection: 111 shovels used for the arboretum's honorary tree dedications. The first tree was a bur oak that Ohio governor James Cox dedicated in 1927, and over the years, the dedicators have included General Pershing, Admiral Byrd, airplane inventor Orville Wright, astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, and Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin (who, of course, planted an Ohio buckeye).
Wagner with the White Oak tree Orville Wright dedicated in 1935
Since the white oak tree that Orville Wright dedicated in 1935 is close to Daweswood, Leslie took me to see it after the house tour. Wright's nearly 90-year-old oak now soars towards the sky, and like all the dedicated trees, it's marked with a handsome bronze plaque.
Spider in Web sculpture
From Daweswood, Mari Ann drove to more "Big Bugs" – including a sizeable spider in an incredible 12-foot web and an ominous, 150-pound assassin bug – before we climbed to the top of the arboretum's observation tower to view its iconic hedge letters.
View of letter hedge from observation tower
Formed by live American Woodward arborvitae, the massive letters spell out DAWES ARBORETUM. They originally were planted in 1942 because Beman wanted airplane pilots and passengers to be able to read them and know exactly where they were flying.Like the "Big Bugs" exhibit, Beman's big letters are truly a sight to behold.
Daddy Long Leg sculpture
For more thingstodo and , check out #OhioTheHeartofitAll at Ohio.org.
