Historic Waco Foundation joins other local organizations to celebrate the centennial of Cameron Park. HWF’s participation will be an art exhibit titled “Art in Cameron Park — Yesterday and Today,” which premieres May 16 at East Terrace House Museum. 

The artwork, which will include photographs, has been lent by local artists and collectors. Each will depict a part of Cameron Park, such as Lover’s Leap, Proctor Springs, Lindsey Hollow, Pecan Bottoms and the Rose Garden. Many of the spots no longer exist or have changed significantly. The exhibit is a reminder that Cameron Park is a precious natural resource that deserves to be treasured and protected for future generations of Wacoans.

Martha McKinney, whose work hangs in government offices in Washington, sets up her easel and canvas on a sunny spring day at the Herring Avenue entrance to Cameron Park. Three of her oil paintings will be included in the exhibit.

Yesterday

One 19th-century artist to be featured is Charles Hudson Cox, 1829-1901, whose collected works permanently hang at McCulloch House Museum, 407 Columbus Ave. Cox was born in Liverpool, England, where he became an artist of note. Even today, his ocean-themed pieces occasionally come up for auction there. 

Somehow, Cox made his way to Waco, where he painted many landscapes of our area. A teacher as well as a working artist, he was instrumental in organizing the Waco Art League, which still exists today. Cox is buried in Oakwood Cemetery. Four of his delicately rendered landscapes portray scenes from the area that would become Cameron Park.

Today

This section features contemporary artists such as Martha McKinney, who will lend three of her oils for the exhibit. Gene Perry and Drane Haw also have lent their paintings of park landscapes and the late Walter McCown, local artist and teacher, will be represented.

Many Waco residents remember the late Tribune-Herald columnist Virginia Plunkett. Virginia’s delightful oil of Miss Nellie Poage in Cameron Park will be displayed. Waco art teacher Gayle Bailey and artist Jack Fortenberry are currently painting canvasses that will hang in the exhibit. Waco collectors have lent other Cameron Park artworks: three Will Kendrick oils, a large watercolor by Charles Hudson Cox and an oil painting by Ruth Smith.

“Lover’s Leap,” a song by Robert E. Hinson especially written for Cameron Park’s opening in 1910, will be performed at the exhibit’s premiere. 

Photography is well-represented with hauntingly beautiful images of the park by the late Nancy Barcus, who is remembered for her musical talent and community interests. Well-known Waco photographer Don Castello will present a CD collection of 300 Cameron Park scenes from all times and seasons, including Cameron Park Zoo. Dr. Scott Littrell’s photographs of Cameron Park’s cliffs overlooking the river will be among the artworks.

East Terrace also will host an outdoor celebration for the May 16 premiere. Artists will be invited to set up their easels to paint Cameron Park scenery from across the river. Lending an air of the antique, a bicycle built for two will be available as a prop for photography of guests.

Entertainment will be provided by the Sweet Adeline Singers, the Brazos Knights Barber Shop Quartet, Lover’s Leap Baptist Church Choir and Lanny Nye and the Tuba Quartet. Midway Choral Singers will perform “Lover’s Leap,” a song written especially for the opening of Cameron Park a century ago, with music and lyrics by Robert E. Hinson.

Claire Masters is a long-time supporter of Historic Waco Foundation, and has a passion for making sure the stories of Waco’s past are remembered and appreciated by all its citizens.