Dororthea Dix Park, Part III: The park proper

In addition to the Gipson Play Plaza and scores of buildings shown in previous posts of this series, on Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, N.C., has sufficient area among its 305 acres to exhibit traditional attributes of a park, such things as scores of trees and plenty of open space and beautiful landscaping. 

The lead-off photo depicts a nice portion of what is referred to as “the big field” at Dix Park, space used for such things as concerts and festivals. One such example was the annual spring weekend Dreamville festival, which concluded its four-year run in 2025 (city and Dreamville officials have said a new four-year festival is in the works, but no details have been made public as yet). 

Or you can go to the big field just to roam, which is what I used it for when I was there Tuesday. 

The big field technically is a mix of rolling land that steadily goes up or down hill, depending on the direction you’re headed. The area in the foreground of the above picture is at the top of the hill. One goes downhill as he or she proceeds in the distance shown in the middle of the photo. 

It’s at that opposite end of the field that the park abuts the State Farmers Market property, and a stroller need only recognize the bright orange roofing as he or she draws closer and closer to the end of the field to appreciate the proximity of the market. 

I’m not sure what kind of work is being done on the right side of the photo, where the orange fence and construction implement is located, but I did read somewhere that there is a bandstand being installed in the field, and perhaps this is where that is going. 

To view a full gallery of photos from the “park proper” portion of my shoot at Dix, follow the link in this sentence.   

Above and below: The objective of this sculpture by DeWitt Godfrey, titled Attun, is to blend “natural mathematics and computational design with community context.” Godfrey used corten steel and stainless steel fasteners to create this 2023 work. Corten is a durable copper-chromium alloy designed to resist corrosion and does not require painting. The sculpture is intended to be visual-only; signage asks visitors not to climb on it.  

Above: A view of the downtown Raleigh skyline from Dix Hill, just outside the Greg Poole Jr. All Faiths Chapel.

Above: With a combination of rollers and banked turns, this pop-up pump track enables anyone to sharpen their bike, scooter or skating skills. It is open March through May each year.

Above: Sunflower Power Poles, easily visible from Lake Wheeler Road, the park’s eastern perimeter, is an art work created by Thomas Sayre and installed in partnership with the Duke Energy power utility. The sculpture transforms traditional utility poles into art, paying tribute to Dix Park's popular annual field of sunflowers, which visitors can find in the park interior from early July to early August. Raleigh-based Sayre, a sculptor and painter, has created and built public arts projects throughout the world. Another of his best-known local works is Gyre, the large three-piece ellipse on the grounds of the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Finding art ... in fall pumpkin displays

When I arrived at the North Carolina State Farmers Market grounds in Raleigh late Saturday morning, I wasn't expecting what I would quickly see -- a huge crowd ... and vast displays of sundry pumpkins -- in all shapes, sizes and colors (including variegated) -- for sale by quite a few vendors.

It just didn't occur to me, but I guess it should have. The crowd was the biggest I'd seen there, and growers also were selling mums, fruit trees, honey and baked goods. 

And when I left the grounds early Saturday afternoon, I couldn't help but feel that the vendors who had worked so hard to set up attractive displays to draw people to their products had also handed me a gift: an easy photo shoot using the camera in my iPhone X.

Thank you, farmers of eastern and central North Carolina!

The photo you see leading off this post is a prime example of the diversity of the various squash plants I came across at the market. And that grouping wasn't even a vendor's display; it was a stack on the bed of a hauling truck in the market's parking lot, presumably waiting to be unloaded (see photo below).

The North Carolina State Farmers Market on this day was easily the largest attended I had ever been to, and I'd even go so far as to say it had the most vendors I'd ever seen collected at one farmers market -- if you don't include professional city markets like that one in downtown Charleston, S.C., for example. The Charleston market runs daily -- and for several blocks -- although it entails many more crafts, art and other homemade goods than it does traditional produce and such fare.

Those of you who are photo enthusiasts like me, if you have a large farmers market near you -- and by "large," I mean many, many vendors -- it might be worth your while to stop at one while it's still pumpkin season to see what kind of compositions you can make with their creative displays.

As I was taking the pictures Saturday, I was excited about some of the natural shadows that were part of the compositions, again, thanks to the creative displays by these vendors. I didn't even attempt to mess with those afterward. I'll cut short my prose and fill out the remainder of this post with pictures.

As always, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. This is particularly helpful when accessing the blog on a mobile device. To view a full gallery of shots from my visit to the State Farmers Market on Saturday, click on the link in this sentence.

Above and below: Original color and monochrome conversion of a composition I came across and photographed without touching the arrangement. For the monochrome below, I did play a little with the contrast (intensifying it a bit) before returning a minute amount of shadow detail.

I was so taken by the texture of the pumpkin above that I was tempted to use this image to lead off the post and/or use it as my display photo for the online gallery of the shoot. There is a monochrome conversion of this photo in the full gallery accessible through the link the blog text above. Below is another arrangement that a vendor put together ... and I did nothing to disturb it. 

Above and below: Different angles of the same arrangement. 

Above and below: Another occasion to present original color (above), although there is very little "color," and a monochrome conversion below.  

  

Original color (above) and a monochrome conversion (below) of the same composition. 

Above: A horizontal, or landscape, presentation of the same display as above, only this, I feel, gives more weight to the pumpkin on the right's curvy stem. 

Above and below: A couple of maize displays. The one below I adjusted to reduce highlights (and thereby add a bit more color). 

Photos above and below help depict the festive atmosphere at the grounds on Saturday. I wonder if the people in the photo below knew there was a ghoul looming above them. 

Above: I wasn't sure if the sign was meant to designate a loading zone ... or an attempt to get drivers to stop there and shop. Either way, it was an attention-getter.  

Above and below: A creative vendor fashioned wreaths using pumpkins as a centerpiece. 

 Above: One of the vendors chatting with a customer ... and her adult guardian.

Above: I love the definition provided by natural shadows within the pumpkins' surface curvatures in this image. 

Fuzzy thoughts (above) and spectacular patterns and colors in the gourds in the first and second photos below. 

I can't say I saw many white (above) or variegated pumpkins (two photos above) while I lived in Indiana. I sure see a lot of them in North Carolina. Stems were my focus in the pumpkins in the image below. 

Above and below are my attempts to depict the crowd size in attendance. Most folks parted to the sides when they saw me taking the picture, but you can see more congested areas in the backgrounds. 

Above: I finish the post with a photo from a German bakery, which was selling lots of yummy things. One of them were these cheese pretzels. I got one, but haven't tried it yet.