Our class was able to connect today with Paige Kelly ’26, who worked on the inner garden for the Building on Dana project. We had already read her wall text/essay. Today we discussed her process, which had included a visit to the DeKalb History Center to look for photographs for our McDonough street book and her discovery there that Edward Daugherty had designed the gardens at the Dana Fine Arts Building and that his papers were at the Atlanta History Center. Paige and classmate Dylan Bulford ’25 made the initial trip to the Kenan Research Center to take a look at the papers, which include multiple drawings for the gardens in Dana and detailed plants lists. Thanks to their efforts, we were able to include reproductions of some of the papers in the exhibition and, in our restorations of the gardens, we have been working, whenever possible, with Dougherty’s initial ideas as a guide for 2 years now, trying to keep the spirit of the original designs and intentions while updating them for current needs and goals.
I appreciate Paige and Dylan’s work. They opened new knowledge on the building and new directions for our research. Our class is looking at the original designs for and functions of the inner court/secret garden this semester, extending so many efforts of the Building on Dana crew, including Paige’s fantastic research. That project had direct influence on Paige’s current professional plans. Thanks, Paige, for taking time to join us; we look forward to following your career.
